Being a father of a toddler has occasional difficulties – and so does being a team captain. Already suffering from a chest infection, Matt received a message saying I couldn’t play due to missing childcare, then a message the next day to say I could play again. Massive thanks to an injured Tom Rosselli for watching baby Oscar on the sideline! Oscar (baby, not the M1s’ player) is teething, which means several days of interrupted sleep and fever, so I arrived at the pitch in a bit of a haze with training trousers on back to front – and didn’t find out until the votes after the game.

To the game itself, South had a bit of a score to settle after an unexpected result at the end of last year. We hadn’t played our best, and St. Ives had had a stormer. With that match in mind, South started strong, moving the ball around the back and focussing on a narrow press to prevent their long balls through the middle that troubled us last time. Stu, Mariano, Ethan and the returning Nik were slinging the ball quickly around the back in the face of a high St. Ives press, and finding great outlets to move down the pitch.

It wasn’t long before the pressure showed, and a defensive error led to a short corner for South. Fortunately, we had had a lengthy session on shorts at training – but unfortunately, the involved players were either away or off the pitch! Stu stepped up to the plate as striker (much to the delight of the M1s scouts on the side). The first short ran astray, and the second was run down… but the third was struck cleanly just outside the keeper’s feet to make it 1-0 in a rare goal for our defensive line.

South continued to apply the pressure with Dimitri, Pete and John controlling the midfield, and finding space to go forwards. Nik’s driving runs down the line were also causing trouble, and Jim in particular kept finding himself in space to attack. However, St. Ives were causing problems for our defenders with a pacy front line. Towards the end of the first half, a minute of us switching off showed and they worked the ball around the D, in behind Matt to level the score.

The second half was more of the same. South had the majority of the possession, but couldn’t quite convert. Will had a near miss in space behind the keeper, Pete had a ball swept away before he could strike, Eric had some mazy and tenacious runs that didn’t quite make it all the way. However, St. Ives were getting riled up, and frustrated by an (accurate) umpiring decision, one of their players knocked the ball after the whistle away to earn a card and short. South didn’t convert, but the pressure was showing. A flowing team move started from the back line, worked out by Ethan to Oliver, slung down the line to Will leading into space, who threaded the ball to man-of-the-match Jim for a good conversion to make it 2-1.

South continued to play well, switching the ball in and out. Against the run of his performance in the rest of the game, Stu had a moment of madness and passed the ball to their centre forward free in space for a tight one-on-one in the D. Fortunately all was cleared safely, but it showed a few wobbles. In the dying minutes of the game, South switched off once more, and St. Ives worked a ball well around the D and found the goal.

Despite a strong performance, the game ended in a draw, but with many positives and good moments in 68 minutes of hockey to take away. The other two minutes were free to be brushed under the rug for a long-awaited team social! Shuffleboard, mini golf, food, and good company were the stars of the evening.