So in place of the normal game we had:

Cambridge South III 4 - 2 Rob Garret’s XI
Goals: Bridge (J) 2, Leckie 2 : Lane 1, Garret 1
 

Cambridge South 3rds opened their league season with a three-nil walkover against Long Sutton 4.

However having achieved this victory without breaking sweat, Rod Richardson (acting Captain) put together a rigorous training session to ensure that the hard men making the long trek to Horncastle next week are adequately prepared.

Ten volunteers who were available for Horncastle picked up black shirts and took on a Gentlemen’s eleven ably captained by Rob Garret, who was well warmed up as a result of having already played one match for the 1sts.

The black’s started with a cautious approach with a rock solid defense centred round Lino Di Lorenzo as keeper and John Benedikz as sweeper, with a defensive line of Sam Carr, Sam Lansdell and Phil Le Gouais, a four man midfield (Bridge Brothers, Gass and Leckie) and young George Bucknall as the sole forward.

White had a more eclectic approach with eleven field players ranging from John Benedikz’s brother-in-law-to-be who had never seen a hockey stick, to the ever skilful and seemingly ever present Mr Garrett, but with no goalkeeper. White's strategy appeared to be to smother George Bucknall with markers, to lure the black midfield forward and then be dangerous on the break with waves of strikers, including the speedy Jason Wong, the enigmatic Wilco Dijkstra, guest star Paul Mellor and new comer Steve Lane.

Black drew the first blood. The midfield burst through and newcomer Douglas Leckie added his name to the Goal Kings table.

White immediately picked themselves up. Rod Richardson and Steve Morell rallied the defence and Neil Sneade and Rob Garret made their presence felt in the midfield. Hence it was only a matter of time before Steve Lane hammered a well deserved equaliser into the back of the net.

Black were not content to leave it there. A cross by David Bridge from the left wing was only partially cleared by a white defender and was instead picked up by a hungry James Bridge at the top of the D. James is not the man to ignore such a gift and easily put black 2-1 ahead.

Up to this stage black had had the better structure but suddenly John Benedikz, worn out by a bad cold and months of dissipation in continental hotels, decided that he was too tired to play sweeper and wandered off in order to achieve a more restful life goal-hanging.

White’s defenders, including David Scott and Andy Passmore, took this in their stride. But black’s defence was put into disarray and only skilful goalkeeping by Lino Di Lorenzo, (backed up by Phil and the two Sams) prevented white from equalising before halftime.

In the second half it was the eleven men who tired before the ten. Douglas Leckie scored again with a cunning shot from the extreme edge of the D which was disguised as a cross. This being matched a few minutes later by yet another goal from James Bridge.

In the closing minutes black surged forward greedy for goals but it was white who forced a short corner on the break. Rob Garret stepped up and scored a captain’s goal in the extra time allowed for the short.

A fun match played on a nice day in a good spirit.