You know you are on a proper journey when you drive past the hitherto incumbent of the title – “furthest away game so far”, and the sat-nav reads that you’re only half way! I’ll never complain about a Spalding away game again, I swear. The plus side is that we get to treat ourselves to a Mcdonald’s™ on the way up and back down, come what may. And to excite matters ever more, Tom Marchant © had the foresight to organise a travelling quiz, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all (especially Shin’s car which took the honours). It’d almost turned in to a trip worth looking forward to.

The flat Lincolnshire landscape invites the North Sea breeze many miles inland, bringing with it a salty spray adorned with the scent of vinegary fish and chips from the UK’s 4^th most popular staycation destination, Skegness. Contesting this noisome airspace was a bubble of love in the air, as Steve’s fiancé had willingly come along all this way to cheer us on. Also, Marchant © senior came along for the day to witness history in the making. And thus, with a headful of useless trivia, one too many French-fries, and a veritable record crowd of 2 for this season, we clashed sticks with Horncastle.

We played an impressive game against a strong opposition. They have previously yo-yoed between Div 2 and 3, yet we were equals throughout. They took their home-advantage of the slippery salt-laden pitch as they passed and moved with intent. It was only by the fine front marking of Tom Marchant © and Pete Richer that they did not penetrate our D often. Dave Aston and Nik Patel also had solid performances in defence and attack. The midfield was pacier than usual with the inclusion of Will Townley, working well off of the affable Steve Wicks. Jim played an elegant game as ever, whilst showing the steelier side of South’s Hockey with his gentle heckles. During a short corner for them just before half time, Jim’s battle cry of “Come on South” was met with a riposte in the form of a well-executed drag flick by their guy who had done nothing else all game.

In the second half our forward line grew more covetous than ever, making leading runs and pressing firm. Tom Blair had a mazy run followed by a stinging strike on goal which their keeper bravely saved. This was the first of many opportunities which South created as the game went on. Chance after chance, our impending goal came closer to fruition.

As if we were some rare reactive element Cambridge-Southium which had travelled to disturb this homogenous ecosystem, the longer we stayed, the more energetic we became, causing the barometric pressure to rise to a flash point late in the second half, when we had won yet another short corner. Mariano acted as a catalyst, fearlessly calling the one-two back to the P-spot, and we all agreed upon it. The play was flawless, with Pete and Mariano pulling off the crispest one-two all season, leading to Pete’s explosive drag flick. 1-1 with a few minutes to spare! That’s when Pete, after all of these good things I’ve written about him, tried a defensive aerial which went as high as their spirits were low, allowing them to have a chance on goal. Needless to say, amends were made, and we made a counter-attack out of it, with Oli feeding Steve far post, only to see the ball bobble over his stick in front of an open goal. Our mass reoriented, and with a net loss of energy, the whistle blew on what was probably a fair result in the end.

Also worth mentioning were Jack’s hold up plays and Mike’s saves, which kept us in the game. Mariano also had a memorable reverse shot swing-and-a-miss, ending up on the floor, bundling over an unsuspecting defender with him. Shin played a dodgy cross-field pass whilst covering at the back which no-one expected, not even the opposition, which was one of the reasons why he was yet again voted lemon of the match. Nik Patel was narrowly voted man of the match on a day when there was strong competition for the award. It was a memorable day all in all.

Thank you for reading, and I’ll end this report now, before I either add a references addendum or they start mistaking me for Jan.