The second match of pre-season was intended to be a step up for the lads, as South met two Prem B sides in the form of Shefford and Sandy. Despite the absence of a few key players, South were confident going into the match buoyed by the new signings of Dean and Herbert.

New captain Harry’s three key messages for the game were aggression and intensity. We didn’t quite get the memo as the friendly bobbly push forward from SAS to start the game went straight off a South stick for a long corner. This wasn’t the start of things to come though, as South then put their mark on the game, with some great runs from the strikers and fantastic tenacity and bite in the midfield.

Despite an even game, it was SAS who took the lead, when a broken down short corner fell to their forward who nailed a shot into the bottom corner. Further shorts for Shefford were stopped though, either by the great running of Tom R, or the excellent discus mask throwing of Dave A.

As the half went on, South started to peg back Sandy with their excellent fast pass and move hockey. It was no surprise then when Herbert beat his man on the byline to cross in for poacher extraordinaire Goal Harrison to slot high into the net from close range. That’s his ninth goal for the club now, putting him comfortably into the top ten all time club scorers. Jan Brynjolfssen on ten, you have been warned.

The message at half-time was to keep up the good work, we certainly didn’t look out of place against a team in the league above. The second half started well with great tempo again. Unfortunately, a quickly taken free hit was deflected in by a Sandy forward to steal the lead.

South kept going though, and some great runs forward were only stopped by last ditch tackles or last ditch tumbles. SAS held on in the end for a 2-1 win, but nobody would have argued if it had ended in a draw. South go forward next week still confident, for the game away at Stortford which takes on the mantle of the Division 2 Supercup. As Harry would put it, big game.