So near yet so far was the verdict once more as South followed up last week's one goal defeat by Nomads with another nail-biter at St Ives on Saturday. There were real hopes that South, who played with confidence and discipline in the first thirty-five minutes, could finally string two good halves together and register their first victory but these were dashed six minutes from time when St Ives pounced on a loose ball in the D and gratefully buried the winner to claim the spoils.

The return of Rob Garrett at left-back and Andy Rose at left half gave skipper Jim Thorpe more options for both defence and attack and South set off positively, with Garrett - fresh from a stunning photo-shoot in last week's Cambridge Evening News - able to make several forays from a deep position. Rob Hay, who combined well with Chris Baker and the inventive Doug Leckie on the right, also set in train a sequence of solid moves up the flank and, after Steve Parker in goal had sticked away a crisply-hit short in the fourth minute, South built up the pressure inside the St Ives twenty-five. Hits were effectively ringed, forcing the defence into suspect passes, and both Rose and Ryan Thomas were close to latching onto through balls from the well-supplied midfield.

South's first short arrived after a raised hit in the eleventh minutes but Leckie's shot found a defender and was safely cleared. Leckie and Baker, benefiting from Chris Graveling's exemplary tackling and Hay's astute distribution, showed plenty of ground could be gained without risk by working a series of copybook triangles, but John Taylor and the hard-working Thomas - earlier dragged untimely from his bed in a complicated saga involving college porters, clocks going back and a missing hangover - just failed to apply the finishing touch.

Taylor, employing a nifty reverse-stick tackle in defence, and Garrett's easy pace nullified any threat at the rear and South continued in the ascendancy, winning a second short on twenty minutes. Thorpe controlled the push-out himself and struck convincingly home but the score remained 0-0 as the umpire decreed the ball had not left the circle. Eschewing an appeal to the European Court of Justice, the captain took the law into his own hands five minutes later when, from another penalty corner, he produced an unstoppable self-styled "Thorpedo" which skimmed the keeper's stacked pads and rattled the backboards with a vengeance.

Garrett had the opportunity to double the lead on twenty-six minutes but, perhaps confused by the plethora of goalposts from different sports, just slid the ball wide of the set that really mattered. St Ives were reduced to ten men for a period and, though Baker, Leckie and Thomas had caused havoc up the right wing, the home side broke out dangerously and got a man free down the left despite Graveling's close attentions. Thankfully, Parker was in the perfect position to make a fine diving block, which he followed up by defusing a shifty wobbling bouncer and then extending his legs almost telescopically to pile the pads high and deny a lone forward to the left of the D. Garrett filched the clearance away to Rose and Matt Murray herded up the right but, after South's fourth penalty corner came to naught, St Ives renewed the pressure. Parker cleared elegantly and decisively to the wing but moments later had a narrow escape as a fierce shot pinged off his right-hand post. South ended the half on top, though, with Leckie particularly on song and the team reaping the advantage of greater concentration and more controlled possession.

After the break, St Ives returned to full strength and, with captain Thorpe forced into the role of touchline general owing to a popliteal strain (and not, as widely rumoured, gout and incipient old age), South seemed to lose a little cohesion. There was repeated congestion in the visitors' D and both Baker and Richard Morgan had to get stuck in with no-mess, no-fuss clearances. A second home short on forty-two minutes was duffed, with Garrett and Leckie relieving the pressure, but a third on forty-four minutes boded ill for South when a deft slip to the left opened up the defence big-time. But Parker narrowed the angle on the rush and spread himself, making a superb pad save to deny St Ives the equaliser.

Things quickly swung back South's way as Leckie sent up a precise aerial, Thomas ran hard to sniff any advantages and Garrett and François Lemoine shuttled the ball swiftly up the left, drawing in Rose, Baker and Murray. A fifth South short after forty-eight minutes saw Baker's shot temporarily camouflaged by the keeper before Thomas's attempt at a work-around failed. By this stage, though, St Ives had begun to create ominous gaps in midfield and, despite a number of eagle-eyed interceptions by Graveling, a thoughtful reverse pass slipped through and St Ives won their fourth short. Switching left, they then dribbled right and inexorably worked their way into a position from where a well-placed forward made it 1-1 with a hard flick into the roof of the net.

More free space for St Ives ensued, and Parker did well to thwart a nasty spinning deflection and protect his goal as Garrett raced across to cover. Then Lemoine, as throughout causing problems with clever one-time passes, won a corner for South on fifty-six minutes but, missing Thorpe - still an anxious onlooker - the attempt fizzled out. Garrett's speed, which allowed him to recover for second-bite tackles even when seemingly passed, bought some time as South regrouped, with Lemoine pressing hard on the left and Taylor aggressive as ever on the right.

But St Ives continued to look menacing and, after Parker had kicked to safety from an awkward deflection and Baker's run from Rose's feed had been stopped dead in its tracks, the home forwards again manoeuvred themselves into a prime spot a few yards out. A rasping flick from the left was brilliantly sticked away by Parker to maintain the status quo but, with six minutes to go, a harmless-looking ball into the D somehow escaped South's defensive sticks and a home attacker was presented with the easiest of chances to ram in the go-ahead goal past the helpless Parker.

In a frantic final period of play, an X-rated melee in the St Ives circle - in which it appeared that the home goalie might well be bundled over the line in lieu of the ball - ended all square without a show of cards or police charges being pressed, while Baker's shot from South's seventh penalty corner was half-blocked before agonisingly looping inches wide of the post. So, despite much cajoling, the deus resolutely refused to climb out of the machina and St Ives just managed to hang on.

South, though disappointed at the last again, knew they could have won this game and can take heart from the fact that some promising units are developing within the team. However, there are going to be no easy victories in the higher division and the side will repeatedly need to maintain its collective focus and show total commitment for the full seventy minutes to start earning some reward.