On the twelfth day of the tenth month of the year 2019, history was made. The inaugural L4 vs L5 Cambridge South Derby. With the L5’s in their home purple kit, with matching purple face paint (in true Hakka style), the scene was set for an exciting clash of the titans. Not even the rain could dampen the spirits of the feisty Fives.

Playing a 4-4-2 formation, Nicole’s leading ladies came out strong with some fiery tackles and man marking, shutting down the opposition with much aplomb. It was in fact evidence of the 120% the team was giving (and nothing to do with their slick-soled shoes) that Anna C and Fi spent a significant proportion of the first half on their faces and bottoms following several embarrassing falls, but luckily no players were harmed in the making of the new You’ve Been Framed show reel.

The L5s managed to push forward and had possession in the attacking D, but sadly struggled to convert their chances into goals. The impressive defensive line up of Ana, Annabelle, Emma, Nicole, Olivia, Rosie and Sarah managed to repel all attacks, until an unfortunate opposition late break lead to a goal at the end of the first half. However, the Fives went into the half time chats with their heads held high and the feeling that a comeback was certainly possible.

A switch from attack to defence for Ania helped to keep our defence a (mostly) impenetrable fortress and with strong support in the midfield from Lucy, Vicki, Phil, Fi and Hannah, we were able to continue driving the ball forward. Nicky, Olivia and Anna carried on their pressure at the front with some excellent runs. A break-through came with a spectacular run from Anna C to net a goal for the L5s. This was followed by some spectacular celebrating on the side-line from supporters and the team alike, which superseded any celebrations seen during England’s recent cricket World Cup win.

The Fives continued to apply pressure, fight for the ball and kept a robust defensive line, maintaining the score at one-all for a time. Unfortunately, the opposition did manage to slip a further one through to bring the score line to two-one. Nicole did fear for a matter of seconds (the worst of her life) that she had scored her first goal for South but in the wrong goal, until it was disallowed for not making it out of the D during the short corner. The L5s persevered but unfortunately were unable to bring about a second goal. However, we felt rewarded with a final score of two-one as the underdogs in this David vs Goliath contest.

WoM award went to Anna C for her great goal and LoM award went to Fi for her several spells spent falling on the floor and for her inability to use a card reader correctly post game.

The whole team did an exceptional job and are starting to really put themselves on the map as the new kids on the block to watch. Hopefully we can continue this next week as the campaign goes on. The L4s may have won this battle but the war continues!