Mens 3 vs Cambridge Uni 3

A rearranged date, due to poor weather and a lot of slip days already filled by Cambridge Uni 3 meant that we would be fighting it out on a Sunday and not just any Sunday, but Mother's Day. So, for the young lads a box of chocs was enough to get permission, however for the older lads begging started weeks in advance. This was not the worst of it, as we would be returning to Northstowe a pitch despite being new was very slow and full of bobbles and today was wet.

A loss against this team at the beginning of the season was motivation enough to get a good result, which included a draw. Ives started with the ball and went on the attack to try and catch the opposition off guard but was quickly turned over. Mikes long aerials from the defence gave us a useful tool to get it out of Ives half, but the opposition kept picking the ball out of the air to mikes frustration. Most of the first half saw Cambridge using their fast pace to go around the midfield and attack the defence, but time after time Ives defended and did not concede due to the efforts of midfield running back to help. There was times Ives penetrated the oppositions D but could not finish it in the back of the net, only the side. Continuing to control the midfield Cambridge broke through and scored their first goal in the 30 minute. The first half saw the only card of the game to me, Carl, for advising the umpire repeatedly the oppositions foot was on the line for a short corner, this was put down to arguing and a 2min sin bin that leads me to be writing this match report.

A good team talk to stress the need to increase the ball speed and stop the opposition from intercepting, which John then immediately repeated. Must have been water in the ears.

The second half was much of the same as the first with Cambridge continuing to pick the ball out of the air and using their speed and space to move the ball around. Ives was struggling to get control of the ball from passes that was exploited by the opposition, partly due to number of back sticks that fell in their favour. Cambridge scored their second goal in the 40 minute from a fast advance on the defence. The rest of the game was taken up with a huge number of Cambridge short corners and them trying different plays resembling an American football game to try again and again and again till something works. Eventually they finally got one in, helped by final whistle being blown and all the team around the D. Final score St Ives 0 Cambridge Uni 3.