South took to the field against Bedford in a crucial promotion clash/relegation six pointer/meaningless mid table match. The league is tighter than a pair of Levi 28/28s at the moment, so I don’t know which one of the above to select these days!

The squad was strong - pretty much everyone was available for selection. Mark was here as it was a home game, and Pearson was back from the fields. Spirits were high in the camp, with every member of the team keen to get their preferred tunezzzzz into Joel’s selection mix tape.

To the backdrop of Eye of The Tiger, Stu and Harry started the team-talk, stressing the need for high intensity and focus. Despite this, South started a little sluggishly and it wasn’t until ten minutes in when their free-flowing hockey started to take effect.

So it was a slight sucker-punch when Bedford opened the scoring. Their right-mid went on a mazy run and finished with tomahawk aplomb from the top of the D into the bottom corner. This didn’t set South back and we pushed forward, with many short corners being won and the Bedford keeper saving smartly from Harry L at his near post.

Unfortunately, right at the end of the half Bedford won a second short and a quality drag flick was despatched into the top corner for 2-0. The bad news was that this would be hard to come back from; the good news was that vice-captain Harry Chalk, ever the master of the sporting cliché, had the chance to insist this could be a game of two halves.

South were pumped up at the start of the second period. But so were Bedford and, in a matter of a minute, they were three-nil up. A mazy run down the left and reverse stick thump across the face of goal was met by a smart slapped finish at the far post. Another moment of quality.

3-0 was always going to be a push. South threw everything forward at this point and created some of our best chances. Shin was unfortunately denied by the keeper in a couple of one-on-ones, and further shorts came and went. South eventually got a goal in the last ten minutes, Aston poking in at the far post from all of three yards. We then probably should have got another but the left back, instead of making the most of ten yards of space in the D, was simply floored by Colin’s wonder pass and the chance came and went. Bedford had the time for one more, with some silky skill and finishing from their forward adding more gloss to the score line.

In summary, Bedford were simply the more clinical team on the day in a match which was probably even in terms of chances. All four of Bedford’s goals were top quality whereas South’s was, well, Average.

But we’re still only four points off second, so bring on next week!