We arrived at Bury St Edmunds, in Nowton Park, paid and displayed, to play our second and last pre-season friendly before launching ourselves in to the challenge of Division 2. Bury were previously in Div 2N but were relegated last season, giving us a mental prerequisite to beat them if we fancied our chances this season.

It was another wet day but luckily there was rain either side of the game, but hardly any during. The astroturf was against us, being a beachy sand-based terrain which sapped the pace out of every pass and made turning very tricky. It reminds us that we are so fortunate to have our amazing Long Road facility.

South were in control for the first half, quite comfortably, with Pearson striking home from a short corner. Same old routine but with a jazzed up name. Our defence soaked up any signs of trouble from Bury but, from time to time, called upon our man of the match, Jason, in goal to participate by making some agile saves.

Lemon of the match was awarded to Dave Bennett (who?) but only just after a strong cameo from Graveling, receiving an aerial from the opposition around our 25, in plenty of space. Calls "mine", totally misjudges it, lands on his shoulder, decries, "Surely dangerous play?" and furthermore demands a free hit in our favour. The ref was, rather soberingly, having none of it. Nor was anyone else.

Our second half showed a few areas for improvement, as good pre-season games should. Our transition from defence to midfield was fair but there was certainly room for working on possession and passing. We were clearly so eager to shift forwards that we often lost possession by forcing it. Our forward line performed a counterattacking role, instead of building up play, which may need mixing up. The defence was robust under a sustained period of attack, which was extremely reassuring.

All in all, the whistle went with 1-0 to South on the board which gives us our two-out-of-two pre-season victories. We have a better idea of the challenges that the new division will bring, and can't wait to get straight in. Training on Tuesday will clearly be a crucial factor in our ability to perform well this season.

A special mention goes to Stu Rimmer who captained on behalf of the absent Jim Hockey-Hockley.