Turns out the L2s don’t like the rain and therefore would not be suited to careers in the duck profession but happily all would recognise a duck if it appeared (Laura Edge has a good story about this). With the unavailability of the team party animals this week, the ladies were pretty much all on time, congregating in the changing rooms for longer than strictly necessary in order to attempt to stave off the inevitable sogginess. This caused our umpires to wonder if we were aware of the 10.30 pushback and if we would be ready to start on time… We would be; there was just the small matter of negotiating/ignoring Louisa’s pre-prepared subbing plan to contend with first. Later, this would result in a Lemon nomination for most of the team for their remonstrations.

It was generally agreed that doing a warm up would be a good idea this week, seeing as we were all there anyway. Great decision making so far but wait a second, where did all of these worms come from? After Katie F accidentally kneeled on one, Ellie set about removing them from the pitch during the warm up jog.

Is it still raining? I hadn’t noticed.

Continuing the recent team strategy of scoring early, Katie scored a cracking shot from just inside the right of the D to send us one-nil up about two minutes into the game. With a score on the board we stalled a little, finding the D too congested at times for our liking, and we had some difficulty getting our shots away or, indeed, on target. Izzy had a goal disallowed for trying to score with her knee but she does have a decent bruise for her effort. Kendra inked her first entry on the scoresheet this season with a particularly good goal that looked for sure to be going wide but which she somehow managed to pop into the back of the goal. Her second was equally as nice, reminding us all why she was last season’s L2s’ goal queen.

Some great around the back play created opportunities for us further up the pitch but we struggled to do much with these chances and towards the end of the first half Ely increased the pressure on us. Harriet’s strong running on a defensive short corner saw her intervene perfectly before a shot could get away, relieving some pressure at source. Ellie had an unlucky yet Lemon-worthy error, when a pass going backwards was missed and looked very much to be going toward goal. An uncharacteristic error which was in contrast to the lovely switching passes carefully managed by her, Lucy and Harriet for much of the game.

Half time saw some discussion of generally stepping up our intensity and some more friendly chat about subbing over some jellies (no jelly worms). Just time for a quick pat of the day’s mascot, Harriet’s Harley, before lining up for the second half. I wonder could we get him a coat in south colours as part of the ever-expanding repertoire of South merchandise, Neil?

The second half started with more purpose for South as Izzy employed her trademark blitzkrieg start. The midfielders were distributing the ball nicely, with Dani and Louisa beating players and getting the ball up front quickly, while Katie F made some great solo runs through the centre. Happily, the relatively lacklustre first half performance did improve in the second half, with more goals coming from Katherine and Izzy.

Katie G (we’re beginning to think that the G is for ‘gangster’) casually took out the opposition’s keeper with the confidence of someone experienced in menace. As the Ely goalie lay stricken, Katie remained upright and time was called off while the keeper recovered. Rejoining the waiting huddle of South players, Katie was surprised and disappointed that nobody had asked her if she was ok. On a lighter note, Katie continued her enviable display of skill by passing the ball through the opposition players’ legs time and time again, and there were zero tantrums to report.

An incident which resulted in the ball being stuck in the Ely keeper’s pads allowed the L2s to help the umpires out with the decision to award us a short corner. After being reminded which line the ball should correctly be placed for a short corner, Kendra paused to remove a stray worm before injecting the ball. Ely came back with some strong attacking play which resulted in a couple of defensive short corners, which were well-managed by our defenders to see out the game five-nil in South’s favour.

Memorable moments from match teas include a discussion with Cantabs’ bar staff about whether milk with a Best Before date of October 28th would still be ok for tea, Ellie dropping a jalapeño into her tea, Izzy’s rejoinder to accusations of diva-like behaviour (“You mean more than usual?”) and the conclusion that Louisa’s spotted rain coat cannot do two things at once. A total of eight players received nominations for man (surely woman, player or person would be a better descriptor) of the match, including Katie G, Katie F, Jess, Jenny, Kendra and Dani, with the honours eventually being shared by Ellie and Harriet for super defensive play and ball distribution throughout.