After the horizontal rain of last week’s Ely fixture, Saturday was a pleasant change. Also the delay to pushback that is typical of late matches was small compared with last week (where Andy T had time to meet at the agreed time at Ely’s pitch, go home, swim a couple of km and return, still witnessing the final whistle of the preceding game).
After pushback South came out of the blocks quickly, looking dangerous around the Bourne Deeping D. However after a handful of minutes under threat, the visitors responded with a counteroffensive. Sandy came out to meet the prowling attacker, forcing him to shoot from the top. Unfortunately before the defence could get to him he was able to dispatch a well judged lob; an unreasonable first test of a stand in keeper. 1-0.
Down on the scoresheet but still with the momentum of possession, South were not to be quietened. Wing backs Etienne and Joe were regularly pushing far into the opposition half, and this was soon rewarded. Joe selflessly admitted that the precise ball fed to Simon who had found space in the D wide of the post was actually a deflection from a defender, but either way it armed Jelley for a shot threaded through a narrow angle behind the Bourne Deeping keeper, bringing the score level.
South had a few more chances; James was an engine getting balls forward time after time, with good shots from Harry and Jesse being thwarted, and many more opportunities crushed by South’s own Martin Grove. It again felt against the run of play when the visitors took the lead once again.
South still refused to back down, and after Harry threaded a ball through to Jelley in the D, Jelley held the ball from attempts from Martin and another defender while running through the D, but couldn’t find a gap as he rapidly approached the base line. Then an excellent call from Andy T announcing he had space at to D was received, and the ball dispatched to him from under Jelley’s shoulder was quickly returned at pace a few meters further to the right by Andy, cleanly finding the backboard and leveling things once more.
At this point Bourne Deeping started a more focussed campaign using some skillful and experienced players on the spine of their formation through the middle of the pitch. Miles was expert at containing several attacks, with Shahzad tackling a rare player to get through. More attacks came prompting some strong saves and clearances by Sandy in the pads. Henry and Harry closed ranks to help protect Miles and the defence and South held a good ten minutes of continued pressure, including a few shorts, before eventually Bourne Deeping found a different route through and scored once more.
Soon after, halftime came.
Despite trailing, South weren’t downhearted, they knew it was all to play for in the second half.
The momentum Bourne Deeping had going into the halftime break quickly evaporated, as an energetic South came back out with vigour. No less difficult was the challenge of the skillful spine of the opposing formation, but renewed resolve, with marking and channelling on the defence, paired with improved passing precision on the offence kept the majority of the pressure on the Bourne Deeping defence. South won a couple of shorts, then after a foot close to goal was penalised, James gallantly turned down the opportunity to take the flick (ed: not for the first time that day it should be noted), in favour of Miles. Now it takes a certain amount of calm to not find goalkeeping an intensely stressful activity, and that same calm overcame any pressure on Miles’ shoulders as he expertly placed the ball out of reach of the keeper and into the net setting things level once again. 
At this point the game could have gone either way. The opposition were doubling down, keen to win back the game after leading much of it, continuing to pressure the defence and testing Sandy a couple more times. But for them it was not to be; Miles sent a lovely ball through to Rob floating near the top of the D who needed no excuse. You need wisdom to get into the 500s of goals scored, and Rob clearly learned from the opposition attack earlier in the game. Faced with the keeper rushing out to meet him, and the defenders struggling to run in time to help, he didn’t pivot left for his usual reverse stick strike, instead he scooped the ball up, looping over the goalkeeper and into the goalmouth. A defender just managed to get a touch on the ball as it crossed the line, but it wasn’t enough to stop South leading for the first time in the game. Despite a good ten more minutes of end to end play, including opportunities and saves both ends, the scoreline resisted further additions. 
An aggressive formation and a tenacious mindset had delivered an exciting game and a well deserved win to Cambridge South, 4-3.