On a bright sunny morning, with 8 wins on the trot; when the game started there were only 8 M2 players on the pitch because

• Mariano went home to get his shoes - came in 2 minutes late

• Manu on his way from the Abbey pitch after umpiring a match - came in 15 minutes late

• There was no response from Dave Monck after 6 calls (For the reason why Dave Monck was late please go to the nearest W H Smith and buy the book “100 excuses when you turn up late for a meeting”)

But this did not stop M2 from doing what they do best: “ATTACK THE OPPOSITION GOAL!”

With 9 men after 2 minutes and Matt Readman (Central mid field) & Mariano (Central defence) making good passes to Tim & Rich Claes on the flanks, M2 managed to get the ball in the opposition D a few times.

But it was Spalding who scored first. They held the ball nicely, rotated it all along the pitch and with a good move from the right flank managed a goal. Although keeper Shahbaz did manage to stop the first shot on goal, the Spalding strikers were heavy on numbers and managed to put the ball into the goal. 1-0 to the visitors!

South never let this goal drop their heads. South were getting enough penalty corners. The first penalty corner was saved by the Spalding goalie. South got a 2nd penalty corner right after; excellent push by Rich, perfect stop by Tim, Mariano does a right slip to Rob, Rob back to Mariano and Mariano scoops the ball easily over the goalie. 1-1!

15 minutes gone. Ah here comes Manu.

With 10 men now on the pitch, South thought “why not pump in few more goals”. Matt Readman’s commanding game in central mid field was an asset and he gave a through pass to Mr.Claes. Rich “the-fastest-man-in-east-Anglia” Claes started his run and the opposition found a green shirt just go past them. The ball was given to Rob Barton who made no mistake and took his tally to 18 goals this season. 2-1 to South!

Spalding did manage to penetrate the South D, but the great wall of Ron - Andy - Mariano - Tom was skilful enough and rock solid to not give away any goals. It was 2-1 at halftime.

South were playing with 10 men for 50 minutes now and Spalding stepped up the gas and after 10 minutes got a penalty corner. They scored the goal but the strike on goal was a little high and was very intelligently deflected in the goal by the Spalding striker. Cambridge South protested about the height but was given a goal by the umpires. 2-2!

Spalding got their third goal with 10 minutes to go. The Spalding right winger carried the ball from his half into the South 25. With every South player marking the Spalding players this allowed the Spalding right winger to go in the south D and take a shot at goal. It wasn’t a clear hit and the ball bounced off the turf. South players thought it would be given dangerous by the umpires but it wasn’t and the Spalding striker took the final touch into the South goal.

With 7 minutes left, surprise-surprise Dave Monck arrived. Ron’s message to Dave was clear “Run your arse off!” and so he did. With 11 players on the pitch now, the ball never reached the South 25 in the next 7 minutes.

South made another penetration into the Spalding D with Tim, Manu, Rich, Rob and Mariano on the attack. Andy “Central Defender” took the ball from the South half into the Spalding D and gave a cracking hit; this was saved by the Spalding keeper. Rob “Goal hungry lion” pounced on the rebound; his hit was also stopped by the keeper. But then “The Mighty Chilean” Mariano, put the ball into the goal. 3-3 and 5 minutes to go! The question was rightly asked “What were the central defender (Andy) and the sweeper (Mariano) doing in the opposition D?”

Back on the attack straight! Tim, Rich and Rob were in the Spalding D in no time and South got their 4th goal. Rich made a brilliant run from the South half into the Spalding D; he passed the ball to Rob who made no mistake to put it into the goal (Rob’s scored 19 goals this season for the M2s, never mind the goals he scored for M1, M3 & M4). South were leading again at 4-3. With 30 seconds left it was easy to defend the small lead.

What a victory! This defined South M2’s whole season “This is CSHC M2 and we are here to win!”

Dave Monck now has the record for least time on pitch (7 minutes) and most goals scored (2 goals) by the team when he was there. Check out reasons for Dave Monck’s very very late arrival:

• Number 73: Was busy helping a friend who had twins! Nice try Dave.

• Number 47: Someone changed the match time on my Outlook Calendar.