This Saturday, the Ladies 2s road-tripped to Sudbury in a battle to keep the top spot. The ladies made the cross-country journey with varying degrees of success; most made it eventually (via the library/cafe), though mixed messages, school being locked and a Year 6 party meant that Katie B never made the meet. Fingers were immediately pointed her way as the day’s obvious Lemon, though Annie later confessed her involvement and Katie was absolved. Although faring slightly better by actually arriving at the match, Jess pipped Katie’s Lemon votes by one as her car told of the “petrol saga” they had experienced on their way. She wasn’t there to defend herself when the story came out, but we were reliably informed that quotes included, “Ok, so we’re on the last bar now”, “Is slowing down the best thing to do?” and, “The car’s only light, you guys will be able to push.” Katie G also received a Lemon vote for locking herself in the toilet, so it was an eventful, yet entertaining, start.

Thankfully all players arrived in time for a (fifteen minute) warm up and we were off. A deadlock swiftly ensued, with neither team able to pull ahead for the majority of the first half. South applied the greater pressure, with Tuffers close on a number of occasions, but it was Katie G who drove in from the left after a long corner and found the bottom right corner with a fantastic strike. Cheeky chappie! Was it meant to be a cross?! Who cares, it found the goal and South took the lead.

The score remained one-nil for the remainder of the half, despite a green card for Dani giving us a few minutes with ten. The umpire then also decided to take some time off and went home ill at half time, giving both teams an extra long break in which to talk strategy. South talked triangles, and even had the time to practice - in two different groupings - before the new umpire arrived and the second half got underway.

Sudbury had also clearly talked strategy and came out much harder in the second half. South matched them with excellent defending, with Lucy and Lydia needing particular mentions. Harriet took the man of the match title (closely followed by Katie G), despite running out on one short corner and just continuing all the way to the halfway line. Just too quick! The second half was, shall we say, a little tense. Tuffers got the second green of the game, there were numerous shorts at both ends and there was a lot of shouting - and then people shouting at everyone to stop shouting. A voice of reason told everyone to calm down and the whistle finally went with South having held their lead.

Royston enjoyed a couple of hours at the top of the table but South were soon back where they belonged. The two sides meet again after Christmas - so I hope everyone has got their Christmas fitness training programmes in place?! Next week sees a late game against Wisbech, where the girls will be looking to secure a win and then, equally importantly, get back in time for the Christmas party.