On a crisp winter’s morning, the M5s were looking to return to winning ways after a couple of weeks of tough results against top of the league opposition. Today’s opponents were March, who were on form coming off a win against Spalding in the prior week, therefore we knew a strong performance would be needed.

South started the first half brightly - with some clean, effective passing between our forward line of Rob, Owen, Jordan and Pete leading to a few early shots, and good pressing pinning March back in their own half. However, as the first half progressed the intensity strangely dropped giving them a foothold in the match, with their more experienced players dominating the ball. Some wayward passing led to March breaking quickly down the left against the run of play, resulting in a tidy finish from their forward giving them the lead. The rest of the half was somewhat apathetic, with a slight lack of composure leading to many attacks breaking down on both sides. My overriding memory of the half was JJ throwing a huge aerial which went x10 times higher vertically than down the pitch!

After some wise words at half time from skipper Rob, Peter F and Mike – we picked up the intensity greatly in the second half, showing far more aggression and desire. South piled on sustained pressure on March, however for all of our attractive passing play we were unfortunate to not have the ball break our way in the vital moments. This was exemplified when a neat move starting from the midfield led to the ball breaking into the D, agonisingly close to Pete D at the back post who would have had an easy finish.

The pressure we exerted finally took its toll on March’s discipline, at one point dropping to 9 men after a series of questionable tackles. However, we were unable to press home the numbers advantage, with the wily opposition breaking down play and holding firm. Some excellent saves from Mike gave us the opportunity to search for the late equaliser, but as time wound down the score ended up as a slim defeat.

A tough result to take given the run of play, however the M5s can reflect on a first half of the season with many positives. Hope that everyone enjoys their Christmas break and returns refreshed in the New year!