Cambridge South 2s second grudge match in the bottom half of the season was against Peterborough 6s, the league’s dark horse. In the first fixture, P’boro just pipped South to the win, mostly through judicious use of a slick short-corner routine. The boys in green were keen to get P’boro back for this injustice.

With every team in the club struggling for numbers, the team found itself supporting the 4s and had to start with Phil Crowhurst, Ian Glover and Simon Jelley having played a full game already. Maybe a strategy the team should employ more often: very rarely have we seen such an energetic start to a game. With pin-point passes from midfield’s new recruit Alex Stafford and keen runs from the likes of Rich Claes, Rob Barton and Jelley, it wasn’t long until South found itself in P’boro’s D; even skip Ron Oren managed to get a 1-on-1 with the home goalie (a chance he duly fluffed). Still, the P’boro defence held firm, even if they couldn’t break South’s iron ring.

The change came when South started winning short corners. After Dave Monck hit the rushing defenders rather than the goals, the runners turned a little less keen. This tempted Ron to try a strike himself; although the ball went far wide of the mark, Rich was on hand to retrieve the ball and ping it back into the fray, where Alex was waiting and hit a sweet rising strike just above the backboard. With a touch of good fortune, the umpire accepted South’s goal. 0-1.

Whether goaded by this misfortune (from their point of view) or not, P’boro didn’t take this lying down. In fact, they had the best come back ever: within a minute, they made it into South’s D. With a cross deflected by a striker away from both goalie Shahbaz Ali and the defenders, it fell to the second striker to push an easy goal home. South might have had the superiority on the pitch, P’boro were clearly up to scratch with the finishing. 1-1

But nothing could stop the South juggernaut. With the midfield trio of Alex, Phil and Manu Bhardwaj constantly changing shape, the home side couldn’t get past them or stop them going forward. Good use of plenty space on the width and continuing running up front made South the more dangerous side. Soon enough, Rob found himself in the opposition D, where he was forced onto his “weak” side, P’boro clearly not knowing thine enemy. Never one to pass up an opportunity, Rob waited until the angle got ridiculously tight, performed his trademark drop, roll and shoot - into the far corner. 2-1. South was in the ascendency at half-time.

Allegedly, the home captain set his team a challenge at half-time: he’d rather lose 4-1 than not try to win (words he would come to rue...). Credit where credit’s due: the home side certainly came out strong again. For a few minutes, play was completely reversed, with P’boro camped out in South’s 23. It was only the solid defending of South’s defence, with notable gritty tackling by Tom Anns and impressive tracking back by the midfield, that stopped the home side from equalising. Still, it was a relief when South starting getting their feet again and slowly pushed P’boro to their side of the pitch. The match was sealed with a champagne move: a beautifully weighted pass by Dave released Manu, who had time to complain about the need to run before chasing off after the ball. Having duly retrieved the ball on the other side of the pitch, a simple slip to Alex put him in prime shooting position. 3-1.

Chasing the game, P’boro had to throw everything forward. Luckily, South’s defence stayed awake and thwarted P’boro’s advances; a classy last ditch tackle by Andy Passmore standing out as an example for a next generation of suicidal hockey players. On the other side of the pitch, there were acres of space available for South’s romping attackers. When Jelley made good use of the space and was serviced with a pin-point pass (again), he was unlucky not to notch up a goal for himself. His strike was enough, though: picking up the rebound, Rob coolly looked up and flicked the ball past the scrambling defenders. 4-1.

Although both Rob and Alex were accused of jug-avoidance when they missed absolute sitters, the final feeling for South was one of well-deserved elation. Compared to the previous match against this side, it was a marked improvement; not just in the final result, but also (and more importantly) in the way the team played. If ever there was proof that playing as a team and working for each other gives good results, this is it. As P’boro’s captain gallantly admitted afterward: this South team was the best that he’d played against this season. Ours is now the challenge to keep up this form.