Cambridge South M4s took on St Ives M3s in a relegation rival clash, on a gusty but not as wet as anticipated late afternoon under the floodlights.

Knowing this game could well be season defining, and having lost narrowly in the previous week's match up against Spalding M2s, the M4s pre-match team talk focused on getting the basics right - protecting the ball, percentage passes, and not trying to throw aerials against the wind.

St Ives won the toss and chose to have push back, so South decided to play into the wind for the first half as discussed in the team talk. Something that worked well in the recent win over Nomads.

The opposition started well with the wind behind them, causing a few early problems for the South defence, with the midfield making it too easy for one or two St Ives players to break through the lines. A couple of unmarked men and a few slick passes left Joe L helpless in goal, resulting in a St Ives goal a quarter of an hour into the first half. Not ideal.

South had multiple chances in the first half, but struggled to put them away. Fortunately, not long after St Ives had struck, Joe W was on hand to finish one of these chances when a ball broke loose in front of goal.

Both teams had more chances before the break. Luckily, South had Joe L pulling off some quality saves to keep the scoreline level. 1-1 going into half time.

With a few tangfastics on board and the wind behind them, South felt optimistic going into the second half, even if they weren't playing their best hockey. South's midfield asserted their dominance by communicating more clearly in the second half, cutting out passes and winning the loose balls much more frequently than the first half.

This organisation was rewarded when South pinched the ball inside the opposition's 25, drove towards the D, and played in Joe W. A final pass to Jack and we knew where the ball was going: in the goal for Jack's 9th of the season.

Not long after this, Jack found his way into the umpire's bad books for protecting the ball a bit too passionately with a misplaced elbow. David was also pulled up for an earlier stick tackle, meaning South would have to play the next few minutes with 9 players. South showed brilliant game management to slow play down and keep danger away from the D, so they were back to a full 11 players in no time.

With just a couple of minutes of play remaining, and fatigue setting in, Jordan attempted to close down a St Ives player inside the South 25 before a sideline ball has been taken. Despite his teammates screaming at him to get 5, the St Ives player used Jordan's naivety/tiredness against him, driving towards him and winning a late St Ives penalty corner. Oh dear.

Fortunately, St Ives did not capitalise on the opportunity and South regained possession. They kept the ball well for the last minute or so, running down the clock, securing a vital 2-1 win to jump into 7th place in Division 3NW. A decent Christmas present.