South took to the road with one of the longer trips on the calendar this weekend. We knew that Harleston would be a tough matchup, having fallen to defeat last year and having similar form records to start the season off. The boys were impressed by the pre-match refreshments provided and loaded up on the free coffee before push back (club branded mugs and everything – impressive). This was welcome considering we had arrived at 10:15 after a 1:30hr trip.

Inspired by Sam’s back to front shorts and pre-game speech, South reaped the benefits of the unhealthy amounts of caffeine consumed by starting like the Duracell Bunny and creating multiple scoring opportunities within the first 10 minutes and looking like the far stronger side. Jack Humby firing just wide after Tim Winter executed the textbook baseline drive that South had been working on in training. The skipper, still with his shorts on back to front, also going close with a goal mouth scramble that Harleston were lucky to get away with without conceding. The overly-watered pitch proved to be a tricky challenge, much slower than Fortress Long Road, but South adapted well.

A promising start.

Unfortunately though, the defensive escape would be capitalised on by the Magpies as they slotted in a well-executed short corner around the 15-20 minute mark. The increased confidence from the opponents lead to a flurry of chances, drawing some cat-like reflex saves from Mike Gillingham between the sticks. 1-0.

The half went by and South were just biding their time before the golden chance came on the stroke of half time. The ball was intercepted high up the pitch after a strong press, which eventually fell to Ed Doust who was staring the keeper in the eyes as he powered towards goal. After the confident breakaway, Ed clearly didn’t fancy it at this point and unselfishly squared the ball to the marauding Will Townley, who slid in to the back post more smoothly than when he was first in his girlfriend’s DM’s and slammed the ball into the roof of the net. Stu Rimmer enjoyed that one, to say the least…

Half time, 1-1. The experienced amongst the group imparted their wisdom on the team, aiming to ensure South kept their heads as the team were well and truly in this game and looking to steal the victory. South have a couple of new fathers in the team (congrats) but they were soon to find out what is in store in about 10-15 years’ time.

The team acted like a teenager who thought that the parents of the group didn’t actually know better, and went out at the start of the second half looking rather loose. Harleston quickly capitalised on this and slotted a neatly taken short corner away into the bottom left corner. South heads seem to drop and Harleston swiftly doubled their advantage by taking the ball around Mike to slot into an empty net after winning the ball with a high press. An unfortunate double blow that tipped the balance of the game. 3-1.

Salt was then rubbed into the wounds as South went down to 10, and then 9 men as cards were handed out to new boy Harry ‘Schu’ Schumann (green) and to Stu Rimmer, who’s agricultural tackle suited the surroundings, warranting a yellow. Bearing in mind we had lost 2 brave warriors to injury (hoping the egg on Jack Humby’s face goes down soon and that Papa Brownie can rest his hamstring), South were – let’s say – thin on the ground and tiring.

However, South were resilient, and definitely weren’t down and out. Pressing high and finding their rhythm with the ball, a few short corner chances came the way of South. The weather was beginning to worsen at this point, and the goalkeeper could have been forgiven for thinking that the late Prince was on the side-line, as the Purple rain poured on his goal.

I’m not actually sure what the situation was when the vital South goal was put into the back of the net, but I know the finish belonged to debutant Ethan Gardner. Maybe bundled in off a short corner? Maybe from a goal mouth scramble after a South break? So with that in mind, let’s just pretend it was a tomahawk reverse from a tight baseline angle into the top corner. 3-2.

South were well and truly in it at this point and battling hard in the final 10 minutes to find an equaliser (that on the balance of the game, probably would have been fair). However, the battle was in vein, as Harleston were gifted a last minute short corner, which was duly converted. A slightly whimpering end to what was a solid performance overall. 4-2 Full time.

Harleston are considered one of the best sides in the league, and to go away from home at that early hour on an unfamiliar playing surface and dig out a very competitive performance is something the South lads can be proud of. There was definitely room to improve so encouraging signs for the reverse fixture (request to host this as early as possible to return the favour ;-) ).