A foggy afternoon saw the L4s make the long trek to Spalding, through what seemed like endless cabbage fields. After a few detours courtesy of Anna's sat-nav distrust, we eventually made it to the clubhouse to meet the rest of the team.

There was some nervousness going into the game. Spalding were sitting comfortably at the top of the league, having beaten Nomads 10-0 and Wisbech 2s (then second in the table) 7-0. Not exactly reassuring results!

However, South started strongly, dominating possession for the first 15 minutes and looking very much like we belonged on the same pitch. Our pre-match tactic had been to defend strongly and try to score on the break. Unfortunately, it turned out that Spalding had a similar idea, with some very speedy forwards who were excellent at capitalising on turnovers.

A one-on-one with Aria saw Spalding take the lead, followed by another two goals in a similar fashion. Despite some great hockey from South, we went into half time 3-0 down.

Some much-needed sweets courtesy of Aria and a team talk later, we were back on our way.

The second half was a much more even affair, with some great runs and chances created by Polly, Kaylee and Nooshi. Sophie did some excellent work in the middle against a rather physical Spalding side, and it was lovely to see mother-daughter duo Jess and Sophie linking up so well down the left-hand side.

Nooshi was pushed over not once, not twice, but THREE times, but kept battling away and didn't let it get to her. Ellie R, Hattie (playing her second game of the day!) and Anna also put in stellar defensive performances to keep the scoreline sensible. There were a flurry of cards, mainly for the Spalding team's stick tackles but Kaylee managed to secure herself one too, although I can't quite remember why.

Spalding managed just one goal for most of the second half, until around 30 seconds before the final whistle when a well-rehearsed short corner found the back of the net. Spectators later informed us that the first strike had been above the backboard, so we're choosing to consider that one unofficial. Unfortunately, keeping track of the first shot in an intricate short corner routine is tricky and so the final score was 5-0.

Overall, a game where I don't think the scoreline quite reflected how close much of the hockey was. Really proud of the whole team for battling away against a very strong side, with a particular shout-out to Aria, who made her L4s debut in goal and saved us on several occasions in some rather tight spots!

POM was a hotly contested affair, with more than half the team receiving at least one vote. Kaylee eventually came out on top for some excellent runs and skills on the ball.

LOM also went to Kaylee, for the rather unusual decision to cut the feet off her hockey socks!