Not much to say about this one, cruised to a scrappy 5-0 victory on the March sea-front astro. After my “tactical genius” helped us to avoid the sun on a rainy day, we began. The first five minutes saw us adjust to a pitch with the exact opposite properties to Long Road, we settled and took a 1-0 lead with Tom Grove lurking at the back post for a neat finish. The scrappy affair continued with March not making the trip north comfortable for us at all and they looked to make it count from the penalty corner. Luckily, John ‘The Iron Curtain’ Gourd deflected the drag flick away from the top corner. Spurred on by this, Owen got his first, quickly followed by a second. 3-0 South at half-time. After a half-time team talk which made it sound like we were 3-0 down rather than 3-0 up, we began in earnest with much more fluid hockey. After some solid defending set up a counterattack, Laurie drove into the D and unloaded a corker of a reverse stick shot; 4-0 south. Seeing Laurie’s skill, I decided to try a bit myself. I spotted Owen deep in enemy territory and had the words of coach Anderson ringing in my ear. Sadly, the aerial may not have cleared a lemon lying on the floor. After a double save by Ben kept the shut-out in tact, we finished it off with a bang. Jim decided not to engage in the game of javelin started by the March defender and he passed the ball round the keeper where Owen was on the back post ready to complete the hat-trick. Only he will know whether Jim would have scored his first of the year, if not for his intervention. Man of the match honours go to Owen for some excellent finishing andf a great forward press.

A strong performance and a deserved victory – onto the Cambridge derby next weekend.