Cambridge South 3rds, sponsored by PwC, inflicted the first defeat of the season on runaway league leaders Market Deeping in a closely contested match.

Playing away at Stamford, South field a strong side against a team who had previously averaged six goals per league match. South carried the attack to Deeping from the start, with strong running and pressing by the South forwards, Mark Reilly and Eliot Read, unsettling the Deeping defence. A period of sustained South pressure eventually led to the opening goal, with Reilly carrying the ball left to right across the D before hitting in from a tight angle near the touchline.

South continued to look dangerous on the attack, the midfield supporting South's mobile forwards very well, with excellent play from Wilco Dijkstra and Phil Harvey, in his first start for South, in the centre of midfield.

Deeping did eventually begin to settle into their play though, and started to carve out chances of their own. A defence well marshalled by Phil Le Gouais kept the danger to a minimum however, with the principal danger coming from short corners. It was from one of these that Deeping got their equaliser, as a hit from the edge of the D was deflected by a Deeping stick into the roof of the South net, beyond keeper Jon Price.

Refusing to let their heads drop, South immediately hit back with a quick attack resulting in Deeping conceding a short corner. The ball was played out to James Bridge who, with a lovely touch, lifted the ball low over the sticks of the advancing Deeping defence to thump against the backboard and restore South's lead.

The match was a close contest between two even teams, with Deeping's frustration at being unable to dominate the game showing when one of their player's was yellow-carded for swinging his stick against Wilco Dijkstra's after losing the ball.

In the second half a determined Deeping side pressed hard to avoid losing their unbeaten record, but South continued to look dangerous breaking forward. Despite a succession of short corners in the final five minutes of the match, which included a goal-line clearance from Neil Sneade, South held on for an excellent away victory.