Another weekend, another full team, and a welcome to two more new members playing their first match for Cambridge South L6s. Plenty of players but no goalie – luckily for us Tess Skyrme volunteered to play in goal for the first time ever in her life and it turns out she’s actually really good at it, making several excellent saves and doing a great job of keeping an eye on the game and communicating with the defenders and reminding us to keep marking. All this just after playing a great game for the 4s in which she scored 2 goals!

Intel from the 5s last week suggested that Haverhill were strong in defence but less threatening up front, so maybe this would be a chance for a point or three. Unfortunately Haverhill took a two goal lead, one by pouncing on a hit out that had been sent across the goal for lack of many other options. South kept up the positive energy and fought back, putting more pressure on the other end of the pitch and winning a couple of short corners. A follow up shot from one of these short corners was blocked by a defender’s foot on the line and a penalty flick was awarded. Slight confusion ensued as this was a first occurrence for the 6ths but Libby Eagles, playing her first game for South, bravely stepped up to the challenge and put a great flick past the goalie to put South back in the game.

Hannah Price had another great game in defence with some well timed tackles and clearances, mixed in with some time in midfield in which she made some great drives up the wing. Sammy and Eloise Boroski were excellent throughout, driving the ball through numerous players towards our forwards. Renewed energy and determination after half time saw a much stronger second half for South, especially the last quarter. Bex Jackson did an excellent job of coordinating a tight press on Haverhill's 16 hit outs, and she and Niki trapped several of them to go straight back into attack. Libby Eagles got another ball into the goal but unfortunately it was disallowed for being just outside the D. She had a great first game and was a close second for player of the match. Our other new player, Laura Free had a great game in defence, tracking and hassling opponents away. We improved the provision of options for our defensive hit outs, making better use of width and depth.

Another enjoyable game and although frustrating not to come away with at least a point, another one is surely not far away.