After last week's breakdown in Bourne, South were looking to get back to winning ways this week against ninth placed Wisbech 3rds.

The reverse fixture saw South 2-0 down at half time and just about salvage a draw before the full time whistle. Whatever else happened, Cheggers was damn sure we weren't going to repeat that calamity again. So when we went in at half-time with the score sheet blank you might think that he'd be at least a little bit happy at the improvement. But you'd be wrong. Very wrong. This ruthless captain expects nothing but the best and won't take less than 110% from every one of his troops. So out came the hair drier treatment for the mid-match team talk.

To be fair, we hadn’t performed at our best for the first half. It was a glorious day for hockey – blue skies, warming nicely and a slight breeze to cool any hot heads out on pitch. A noon push back meant Chegger's charges had plenty of time to recover from illness/hang-overs/night shift work (delete as appropriate) but in reality the extended morning-time seemed only to confuse the poor players. The pre-match skills session looked the business but once the whistle went South struggled to get their rhythm going against a brisk and busy Wisbech team.

The home side enjoyed the lion's share of possession and threatened the Wisbech goal with growing regularity as the half wore on but never really created any clear-cut chances. Fortunately the indomitable South back line was showing that it's greater than any single player. With the absence of Asbo (through injury) and Thorpe (some flimsy excuse about catching some sun in Norfolk, of all places…), Carey stepped up to centre back; flanked by fearless fullbacks Benedikz and Hay, and Graveling providing support at his rear. Benedikz was in eye-catching form producing a man-of-the match performance on the left with some solid tackling and excellent support of the South attack. On the other side, Hay was always available as an outlet for the defence and sparked off numerous attacks up the South right.

In the middle, Cheggers played between Creed and Snetler and they were as solid as ever defensively, providing a good barrier in front of the defence. Going forward was more difficult, though, as the Wisbech midfield closed down quickly and squeezed the play into tight spaces. When South did finally get into the Wisbech D they were unlucky not to score. Snetler rifled in a trademark reverse stick shot from the top of the D that the keeper did well to palm over the bar and Murray was almost on the end of a cross-shot from Forrest. Keith also had a chance with his hallmark reverse stick hit (a more precise shot, to Snetler’s blunderbuss) but the Wisbech defender trampled his way across and diverted the ball to relative safety.

Mid-way through the half Wisbech were penned into their own half as the tenacious Creed forced a succession of long corners and side line hits on the South right. The crosses into the D that resulted from the pressure rattled the Wisbech defence but unfortunately didn’t give the home side a goal.

The second half started with Reilly back on the pitch after sitting out the end of the first half due to a nasty knock on the ribs from a more physical Wisbech tackle. The bruising only bolstered his greed for goals, though, and he was unlucky not to be on the score sheet in the second half as South stepped up a gear and punished some slack Wisbech defending.

Cheggers forged his way into the D and when the ball broke loose Forrest was on hand to lift it into the far corner. Shortly after this Forrest picked up the ball on the Wisbech twenty-two, managed to bustle his way past a couple of Wisbech defenders and slotted the ball neatly past the keeper for 2-0. The victory was assured when Graveling made it two goals for the season, skilfully diverting a short corner routine into the roof of the net.

Steve Parker was called into action only sporadically, but when he was needed he was quick off his line and authoritative in action. With Carey dominating the defence, South were able to put together some attractive passing moves, taking advantage of the drop in determination from Wisbech now that they knew the tie was over. Keith was close to a cross from the left, Reilly almost got on the end of a Forrest through ball, and Murray's signature aerial (there's always one!) oh so nearly found its target. A good performance against sturdy opponents and a welcome return to winning ways.

"We didn’t look like a promotion winning team in the first half," said Captain Chris Baker afterward. "But we showed our class in the second half with 3 quality goals."

With third placed Cambridge City 4ths only managing a draw at St Ives, it means that South require just five more points in the remaining four games to ensure promotion to Division 3NW.