Cambridge South 2nds, sponsored by PwC, played out a 1-1 draw at Newmarket in atrocious weather conditions on Saturday.

South began the brighter of the two teams, pinning Newmarket back. The hosts struggled to clear the South press for much of the opening ten minutes. However, when Newmarket did work a ball through, their forwards were interlinking well, moving the South defence around to find space. This opening period set the pattern of the match, South dominating territory and trying to force errors, Newmarket looking to hold possession deep and to spring swift counters.

It was Newmarket who fashioned the first really clear-cut chance of the game, when a powerful strike from a short corner beat South ‘keeper Lino Di Lorenzo only to smash off the post. A Newmarket forward following up seemed certain to turn the rebounding ball into the gapping net, only for it to come at him too sharply meaning he fluffed the contact, allowing Neil Sneade to sweep to safety.

Minutes later Newmarket had an even better opportunity when they were awarded a penalty stroke. South were shocked at the decision, mostly because strokes are rarely awarded in Division 5NW for anything other than feet on the line, and the infraction in this case seemed fairly minor. However the rules of the game give a long list of other offences that ought to result in a stroke, with the those in the South team who had a view of the incident and an Umpiring qualification all concurring post-game with the match officials’ decision. Either way, a stroke it was. Newmarket’s talented young county player stepped up to take it, got a good connection, maybe too good as the ball flashed past the outside of the top left corner. Apparently the last time this player took a flick at Lino, he missed wide of the bottom right corner. What with the duffed flick at Alford, Lino clearly has the Indian sign over 5NW flick takers!

South made full use of these escape when they took the lead in the closing phase of the first half. Newmarket’s centre-back dawdled on the ball, allowing Rob Barton to close him down. When the defender tried to trick his way out of trouble, Rob didn’t buy it. Rob knocked the ball loose to strike partner Kevin Rowland, who was the only player, apart from the Newmarket ‘keeper, in the circle. Kev had vast amounts of time to control, steady himself, and drive the ball hard into the bottom right corner of the exposed stoppers net.

South started the second period at pace, and seemed certain to make it 2-0 when some neat interpassing saw the ‘keeper rounded. Though the ball ran loose from the initial thrust, it fell to Stuart Creed, who, with the goal yawing, seemed certain to score. However the position of the ball forced Stu into a shooting with a reverse stick sweep, which, in the conditions, unsurprisingly was a poor contact. It still seemed certain that Simon Ta would finish the chance off, but he couldn’t sort his feet and stick out in time to turn the loose ball home, the defence had got back, and the opportunity had gone.

Like Newmarket before them, South were made to pay for not making the most of glorious chances. They were not helped by a period of unnecessarily panicky defending, as three times defenders, with time on the ball to get their heads up and pick a pass, opted instead to try and whack balls straight upfield, through a crowd. Each time the Newmarket midfield were comfortably able to stop the clearances, and recycle the ball back into South’s circle, the final time finding a player in the left channel, who made a good contact with the ball. Lino had this shot well covered, only to be beaten all ends up when it was deflected into the top corner via a defenders stick.

The final twenty minutes of the match saw the two teams stymied by the arctic, rain lashed conditions. Numb fingers, slippy stick handles, and a surface that some players footwear could find no purchase on (Finn Johnson’s impersonation of an ice-skating giraffe will remain long in the memory), all contributed to a decline in both teams ability to pass accurately to each other, with the ball stuck in midfield for most of the remaining time. The nadir of this was reached when Jan Brynjolffssen tried to hit through a ball and totally lost grip of his stick, which went flying, wobblingly in the air like a decidedly unsmart missile, towards a knot of players who were rapidly seeking cover. Fairly lemon-like…

One of the few remaining chances in the match came South’s way, when a James Pope free hit from the left touchline was flicked first by Rob, and then by Gareth Hebbron, the ball going agonisingly just wide of the wrong-footed ‘keepers far post. All involved were pretty grateful to hear the final whistle and head somewhere warm and dry, with the spoils shared. Lets hope the weather for the return game in April is rather more conducive to playing hockey, so we can have a real test of who the better side is!

South skipper Kevin Rowland commented, "The weather conditions on the day were one of the worst I can remember playing in, despite that the team put out a worthy performance and were the side that created the greater amount of play and threat for the full 3 points. Coming away with a point was the result of hard team work, we certainly enjoy the game more when we play well, and that we did".