South emerged from the Christmas break, on a blue-skied day, ready to clear out the cobwebs and sweat out any remnants of alcohol that remained from all the festivities. Entering 2020 still sitting pretty at the top of the league, South warmed up and then lined up, ready to get back into the swing of it with a friendly against Royston.

Royston had first push back, with a friendly start hitting it back to South. The game started fairly evenly with possession from both sides. As the half progressed, South showed why they are top of the league with increasing amounts of time in Royston’s half. Despite some strong hits from Royston’s defensive 16s, South were able to press hard and pounce on lost balls with some fantastic shots from Kath, Anna and Zara. Unfortunately no goals yet. The first offensive short corner: straight strike from Rhi, well defended by Royston, who cleared it and South came away unsuccessful. Not long after, another short was won. Rhi struck the ball beautifully. Unfortunately for them, a defender’s stick got in the way and deflected the ball behind the keeper: goal! The second goal followed quickly, from a fantastic run and pass from Zara to Anna who smashed it in.

Refuelled by sweets and a talk at half time, South were definitely back in the groove. With some great runs down the middle by Irina and on the wings from Tabby and Saskia (who had a fantastic debut) plenty of chances were created. Any possible threats from Royston were quickly dispatched by solid defending from Emma, Bella, Janette, Jess and Katie. Lucy helped with defending too as, yet to buy a pair of shoes with grip, she managed to slip akin to “a plank of wood”, nearly taking out a Royston player and successfully earning herself LoM.

The third goal came from a rebound off a short corner. Anna got the ball on the P spot and, with a left flick, snuck in a sensational third goal. She was awarded MoM for both her goals. A few minutes before the final whistle, also from a short corner rebound, Rhi got the ball and smashed it high in the top corner scoring an absolute screamer. Final score, four-nil to South and the perfect warm up game ahead of next Saturday’s match with Shefford and Sandy. Special mention of the game has to go to Zara B in goal, who was a star off the ball, not having to touch it once!