Men's 2nd XI Vs Belper 5

Mike Shapland reports from the side due to injury

Last time these two sides met was in a rearranged Sunday game that ended in controversial circumstances with a strong Belper side scoring a last touch of the game equaliser that should’ve been ruled out in a 5-5 draw. South were looking for retribution today and even missing a few players, including Mike Shapland, still nursing his poorly pinky on the sidelines, were intent on getting it.

It didn’t take long for them to be on their way. Barely 5 minutes in and South were two goals to the good, the first seeing a ball drilled into the D being picked off by a defender only for Gary to immediately rob him and inject it back in for Captain Grozzy to finish nicely. The second came after a rampaging run down the right from full back Mark Willey who’s cross found Nathan Gerrard unmarked to sweep home. South added a 3rd shortly later, which was a real collectors item- a Sharpey goal! The ball was worked to him from a short to put home his first goal since the Clinton Administration. 3-0 and South were rolling but despite a few chances with Ellz being unlucky to see a shot pass inches past the post notable, South couldn’t make their dominance pay. In the end it took another Save of the Season contender from Sam Lane, somehow deflecting a free shot from an unmarked Belper forward over the bar as it headed into the top corner for South to go in 3-0 at the half.

South started the second half with some brilliant hockey being played and their flexible formation saw Brian Blackmore and Stevie Powell seamlessly moving up to cover for players making runs, with the 3 middle players Ian Lane, Nathan and Sharpey running the show and switching play effectively to Stevie Waters, Willey and Henry Gilroy-Davies overlapping. However, it was Belper who came closest to scoring on a number of occasions with either a save from Sam or a last ditch tackle needed. South eventually got their 4th with a turn and strike into the bottom corner from Grozzy. The captain then wrapped up another hat trick, with Nathan slicing through the D and ending up in a heap for his troubles but able to give Grozzy the tap in for South’s own statement last touch of the game goal.

A 5-0 win and yet another clean sheet was clearly the revenge the team was after. More importantly it was a win against another member of an incredibly tight promotion chasing pack with just 5 points separating 1st and 6th, and South will head up to deepest darkest Derwent next week to take on the team one place below them in 4th.