Scorers:

• Matt Kern: An early break scything through the opposition defence resulted in Matt putting away the ball before the starting whistleleft the umpires’ lips

• John Greaves: Showing that persistence pays off scoring the last of a series of strikes

A great game against St Ives… An early push with a goal followed by another dangerous attack (narrowly missing) set the tone for the game.

Passes into space and good movement allowed us to control the field and keep the possession. Strong play at the back disarmed the occasional counter that did make it through, leaving just a couple of opportunities for Shahzad to make some great saves (including a strong contender for save of the season).

As the first half wore on St Ives began to come back into the match, playing deep and breaking with good interchanging of positions among their forwards to keep the South defence on its toes.

South were still dominating possession but the increasing closeness of the contest was shown in an umpire's warning to South in general, and Matt in particular, about stick tackling. At least Matt's new astro boots were keeping him on his feet this week on a surface becoming slippery in the falling drizzle. Unlike Tim Clapp, who seemed to spend most of the half on his backside! New boots have now been ordered, we understand.

The second half followed a similar pattern, South seeking the clinching second goal and St Ives doggedly hunting for the equaliser, calling Shahzad into action on another couple of occasions. South thought their pressure had finally paid off when captain Simon Jelley knocked home a loose ball that had bounced up in a goalmouth mêlée, only to have it ruled out due to a defender's flying knee hitting the handle of his stick.

Injury was then heaped on insult for the South skipper when a raised strike cannoned straight into his hand, sending him off the field with nasty bruising and a possible hairline fracture to his finger - the hockey player's metatarsal. Tim was summoned back on to spend the remaining minutes pancaking around on his arse while using up as much time as possible, an aptitude he demonstrated with alacrity.

A shame the score line didn’t reflect the game played on the pitch, but we kept troubling St Ives’ defence regardless, resulting eventually in John’s goal to seal the result in the closing minutes, which he battered home whether it wanted to go or not. Another lock-out for the South defence and a satisfying performance that has put us top of the league.

The 3s will return… at home against City of Peterborough 8s.