Cambridge South would have dearly loved to take something away from the first away fixture of the season but unfortunately this wasn't to be. The game was evenly matched for the most part but ultimately St Ives found the net more easily than the visitors.

At the back Cambridge looked reasonably secure and it was an unfortunate deflection from a South stick that steered the ball into the goal for St Ives first from an otherwise innocuous short corner. That incident aside, the defence looked pretty secure for the first half with Andy Rose having to use all his considerable experience to keep on top of the Saints' lightning right winger. The game also heralded a welcome return by Rob Hay in the right back position.

The midfield worked well and new signing Richard Morgan fitted in well on his debut. It was the midfield that claimed Cambridge South's equaliser 10 minutes before half time when Rick Erlebach struck South's only short corner hard towards the side board and the keeper could only deflect it into the top of the net.

At 1-1 at half time, South were looking to push hard and take all three points from the game. The second half started well with Matt Murray and Rob Garrett working well together down the right. However the break never came and the keeper proved too quick on a number of occasions when we caught sight of goal.

Eventually, one of the numerous St Ives breaks resulted in a hit outside the D which the home side took advantage of. The wily old centre forward, playing a classic ten minutes on, ten minutes off resting strategy, slipped his marker, Thorpe, and the far post and pounced on a loose ball to slip it over the keeper.

South pushed back hard and created several more chances but eventually the commitment up the field let in the Saints' nippy young left wing to score an impressive solo goal. 3-1 on the day, again not what was required but Cambridge South will look forward to hosting St Ives 2nd team for the return leg in January.