In a match that saw more injuries than goals, Cambridge South M2s fought hard to secure a victory over Long Sutton M2s, a team that has proven South’s nemesis previously (a mere 2 points out of 3 matches).

The team started brightly enough, pressing high and making good inroads into the visitors’ final quarter in the first few minutes. Although Long Sutton wasn’t getting much of the game, South found it hard to convert their possession to goals. Soon the first injury struck: skipper Ron Oren found out his hamstring wasn’t up to running and had to sub himself off. It must have been coincidence that the first goal fell within a minute of this change: while Ron was theatrically limping around the pitch, Alex Stafford surged into Sutton’s D and, with what’s turning into a trademark reverse stick shot, deposited the ball into the far corner. Unfortunately for Alex, the universe (or maybe Long Sutton) took a dim view at his scoring ability and paid him back with a direct hit on the shins; wearing only tiny shinguards, he was lucky to come away with bruises and a scraped knee only...

Most of the match followed a set pattern: while South had most of the play, they couldn’t seem to find the goal again. Long Sutton was never completely out of the game, but neither did they threaten South’s goal much. The visitors’ strongest weapon, their speedy right-wing, was expertly neutralised by solid tackling of Tom Anns and energetic tracking back by Rich Claes. Eventually, an elegant team move of 3-touch hockey found Tim Clapp free at Sutton’s post; not even bothering with 3 touches, Tim slapped the ball home immediately to secure the win.

The last moments of the game saw a few more bruised bodyparts: Alex found the universe hadn’t forgiven him yet and suffered another blow to his shins; Sutton’s captain got an earful in return. To cap things off, Bhav Virdi lost control of the ball momentarily and parked it, at short range, into a Sutton defender - who bowed out of the match with an even more pronounced limp than Ron’s. Undoubtedly, Long Sutton will long rue the moment that South broke it’s dry spell against them!