The weather was cold but the hockey was not. Both teams contributed to a fiesty contest which needed - and got - excellent firm umpiring from messrs Riches and Gibson. The home team channelled their energies into the actual hockey sufficiently to run out convincing five-nil victors.

A first half hat-trick from sharpshooter Barton, approaching three hundred and fifty goals for the club, set the tone.

The opening goal came from a gift of a pass from Alex Pashley and was a trickler from near the penalty spot that just got over the goal line before running out of steam. It's not how hard, it's how many, so they say.

Rob's second was a more conventional one-touch effort, this time assisted by Rock Junior, a.k.a. Alex Larkinson, with a sliderule through pass to the waiting goalmeister.

Now it was time for Robby B to bring out his trademark reverse stick special for the hat-trick, an unstoppable strike from some distance.

Hockey being a team game, other South players were keen to join in the fun. None more so than the effervescent Alex Pashley. His mazy dribble from close to the halfway line was prematurely halted by being up-ended unceremoniously by the Kettering keeper. Tom Steed stepped up and coolly and calmly flicked the ball into the net with a textbook penalty to make it four-nil at the break.

This was maybe a bit unfair on a decent Kettering team, who were always in the match. Hat-trick-scoring-Lemon-winning Rob Barton seemed to think so when his push back to start the second half was a thumping hit straight over the sideline. Confused? We certainly were. He is human after all.

Kettering took this as a cue to put the home team under some pressure, but Rock Radford and his able Rockettes kept things calm in defence. Except for First Rocktenant, Ky Ho, who got increasingly angry through the game as attackers invaded his personal space with shoulders, sticks etc. Didn't stop him delivering yet another exemplary performance though. Matt S-G in goal was rarely troubled and when called upon, he confidently blocked, kicked and shouted as needed, and ensured another clean sheet.

After a while South decided to restore due order and upped their game with some sweeping passing moves, taking advantage of the new 4-3-3 formation to create lots of space and use it wisely. The final goal was a textbook one; pass out of midfield to Alex Pashley dashing up the wing, crossing to the "sprinting" centre forward John Greaves, who arrived with perfect timing to bury the ball into the net giving the keeper no chance.

Man of the Match, Tom Steed, who had troubled the Kettering defence throughout with his terrier-like tackling, close-quarters skills and pace, then decided to (a) copy Mr Barton's reverse-stick approach, and (b) try to knock the skipper's head off with a "shot" that ended somewhere on row Z. Thanks Tom.

And there it finished. Everyone played their part in an excellent team performance to keep St Neots 4s honest in the promotion race.