A Jekyll-and-Hyde performance from Cambridge South at the Perse on Saturday saw them dominate the first half against a confident St Neots side but then concede four goals in twenty minutes directly after the break to register a fourth consecutive defeat.

The most encouraging feature of the first thirty-five minutes was the greater amount of ball seen by the forwards, with John Taylor in particular relishing his reacquaintance with the strange orange orb which had proved so elusive in the Peterborough Town game. In fact, the whole of the forward line was more involved and both Ryan Thomas and the returning Matt Murray also benefited from more coherent work up the flanks and through the centre.

St. Neots found South's forechecking difficult to counter and were unable to control the midfield as they would have wished. Andy Rose hassled tenaciously, Vijay Agarwala conjured up one of his deceptive fakir-like runs up the inside-left channel and Rob Hay contributed sensibly from right-back. Within the first quarter, Thomas had loosed off a quick shot and Doug Leckie had gone just wide after excellent approach work by Rose, whilst the all-action Taylor regularly posed a threat.

Taylor it was who drew a good diving save from the visitors' goalie from a clean penalty corner strike on twenty minutes and it would have been no surprise if South had scored at this juncture as both Murray and Thomas were sniffing blood. St Neots were clearly frustrated and, in addition to one of their number being green-carded in the first five minutes, the grumpy player with the Snow White shirt was given a stern talking-to by the umpire as Dopey watched bashfully on.

A thirtieth minute short corner gave St Neots hope but Rob Garrett, swiftly out, capped an excellent first half in an unaccustomed role as left-back by blocking the shot out for a long corner. The action ended with skipper Jim Thorpe clearing calmly from defence and South marginally on top despite a failure to convert.

But the second stanza might have been a different game as South were immediately put under pressure by a rejuvenated Saints. Keeper Steve Parker soon had to save a hard shot on his left post and, moments later, he was able to block an awkwardly bouncing strike from a St Neots short. A clearance failed to materialise, however, and St Neots tucked the ball away to take the lead. Worse was to follow on forty minutes as the visitors were awarded a stroke when an attacker broke free near the top of the circle and fell as Parker dived to drive him wide. It was far from clear whether any contact was made but St Neots took advantage of the situation to put home expertly in the top right-hand angle.

South hit back with two shorts after clever work by Thomas - who proved a reliable injector in the absence through illness of the influential Chris Graveling - but one was deflected off the line and the other charged down, a fate which also befell a mirror-image penalty corner in South's D. This time, though, the ball ballooned dangerously towards goal and Parker had to be both alert and accurate to divert it from under the crossbar and out of the path of the onrushing forward.

In an exciting passage of play, Thomas was unlucky to strike the St Neots bar with a fierce reverse shot, whilst Hay and Richard Morgan had their work cut out to stem the tide as the St Neots attack, seemingly a man stronger after the interval, flooded downfield. After a further incursion on the left, the visitors made it three in fifteen minutes with a fiercely-struck short into the bottom corner and, five minutes later, the gap became unbridgeable when St Neots again cut a swathe through the defence and left the diving Parker little chance with a neat chip in to make it 4-0.

Despite the scoreline, South still had their opportunities, particularly when winning two short corners in the forty-eighth minute, but first Murray and then Rose were unable to capitalise as the St Neots defence proved equal to the task. When Thorpe set Thomas up beautifully for the latter to snake an incisive pass into the D, South had another good chance but the finish was again missing. The shape and cohesion which had marked the home team's performance in the first half had by now been slightly eroded, although the forwards continued to press, with Rose's shot from South's fifth short well blocked and Thomas shooting wide.

But just when it looked as though St Neots would keep a clean sheet, the keeper misjudged a kick from a difficult bobbler, Murray replied with an (obviously deliberate) bobbling pass of his own and the predatory Taylor was on hand to ram the ball away for a late consolation. The hunger was still clearly there for St Neots, though - as a yellow card to their defender for a "robust" challenge on Thomas amply demonstrated - and they were able to prevent further inroads to take all three points. A disappointing result for South in view of their encouraging first-half performance.