Ash's report a bit like his flick was a little slow coming in, so see below for Adam's original placeholder:

We arrived at Wilberforce Road to play the Cambridge Nomads 2nd team. A short jog and a quick pre match chat meant that the team thought a goal fest was imminent. After all, this team had only beaten St Ives 2-1 following our 9-0 thrashing of them.

This would not prove to be the case.

A strong start to the first half as we looked threatening in possession. A firm slap from Ozzy into the ever-reliable Menzies on the post from a short corner meant that we took the early 1-0 lead. Was this it, the start of the promised goal fest?
Well, another goal would be scored quickly after. Unfortunately, this was against us from an interesting (chest high) cross from the opposition.

One all going into the break and south most certainly felt frustrated. The second half was much better as south constantly won short corners but to no avail. That is until Menzies and I were lurking in front of goal and a Nomandic defender thought he was on the tea in the Ryder cup. It most certainly would have been 350 yards on the fairway had he connected with the ball but in hockey this results in a p-flick.
Menzies abdicating any responsibility of taking it himself, delegated this to myself and Ali who then seemingly backed away meaning that I was then one on the spot. My theory with flicks is pretty simple, look one way and go the other. It is only a theory however as I have never put this into practice before today. Adam was delighted to hear this post match!
 
So, I looked left and went right.
The ball trickled in with the keeper watching it roll past his left foot having been rooted to the other side. Had the wind been against us it might not have made it.
The shock factor meant more relief than celebration from the team, but we were 2-1 up. Unfortunately, this whole ordeal earns me the LOM for this week, possibly the first time ever LOM going to someone for scoring a p-flick! Safe to say my 1-0 record on them might stay intact for some time to come.

The rest of the half south were constantly knocking on the door from their multitude of shorts. The forwards were winning the ball in dangerous areas. Shout out to Charlie who put his knuckles on the line (you wouldn’t have had to had he just listen to the call from Menzies of right foot!). Make sure to rest those knuckles for the near future Charlie. You never know when it could be necessary to use them ;)

The game was brilliantly closed out by Andy who held the ball up in the corner flag for what felt like 3 minutes. To be able to do this at the end of the game show this is clearly a man in his physical prime! This expert possession hockey (time wasting) meant that the game finished 2-1.

The defence were solid as always. Annsy even had some strikes at goal from the shorts. It was kind of him to send them straight towards the keeper as it was pointed out to him by Jack that should he score another goal, Walshy may need to retire for the season.

Ozzy played a great game. Constantly drawing in fouls and even finding himself up the pitch higher than our left winger whilst being positioned at left back! It really was revolutionary stuff. Ozzy narrowly missed out on MOM to Menzies who looked as silky as ever and he played a great game too. The pairing with Walshy meant that balls through the middle were hard to come by for the opposition.

Elsewhere in the world Shin found himself in a land full of alligators with his family. Looks like a great time Shinny!

Overall, a solid performance from the M3s. We are disappointed not to get more goals but relived to have attained the all-important 3 points. Until next week!

Adam's placeholder version:

Coming off a surprising loss against a restructured Peterborough team last week caused the Mens 3s to dive into training with renewed enthusiasm. A local derby day against our more friendly rivals drove the competitive nature of the team to new heights.

Nomads are a club that we have lots of very close ties with, some of our players even able to have fun chats with the opposition as the game commenced. The jovial start to the match didn’t prevent South from quickly displaying their dominance. Effectively pressing the Nomads defence and forcing an error, Charlie won us our first short of the game. The resulting set play saw Menzies expertly deflect the ball straight through the goalies legs to put South on top (x2 Goal King points for style?).

Later in the half a questionable run of play sent a chest high ball flying across the South D. Ozzy, seeing his life flashing before his eyes, remembering his little dogs at home and wondering if they would survive without him, committed to saving himself and deflected the ball down and away from himself… straight to a Nomad forward who tapped it in while diving on and injuring our valiant keeper Matt Need.

As the game progressed into the later stages of the second half Souths domination never waned but frustration rose as the goals did not find the backboard. Short corner after short corner occurred with narrow misses every time. Finally, a series of fouls on the goal line cause a stroke. Ash, with an abundance of confidence strode forward to take it as everyone else rans for the hills. Ash looked right, then left, then left again, selling the keeper with his eyes that he was going left corner. The whistle blew and he stepped into it and flicked, the shot rolled slowly but securely into the bottom right corner (*video evidence appears to make the shot look faster than it was*). The goal secured Souths win and a Lemon for Ash.

A little rugby was played causing a couple injuries to South players and some cards for Nomads but the game closed a largely fun and sociable friendly derby. 2-1 win for South.