On paper, this fixture looked to be a formality for Waterbeach, with the Tigers yet to win so far this season and Waterbeach having lost only once. However, as the saying goes – football is not played on paper.

The early exchanges saw Tigers create some good openings, with some great passing moves in the midfield from Nico Bryan and Chris Bridgeman. As the game opened up, Waterbeach had plenty of chances to open the scoring themselves had it not been for some brave defending from both Philippe Grimshaw and Elijah Gulab. After soaking up the pressure, Tigers caught Waterbeach on the counter attack with Jacob Eatock and Nico, forcing the opposition keeper to produce a flurry of fine saves.

The second period saw the Tigers pick up from where they left off, with James Judd rampaging through the Waterbeach defence only to see his efforts thwarted by some tough tackling. James Sutton in the Tigers midfield frustrated the Waterbeach attacks with some crucial timely tackles. The Tigers defence held strong, with some intelligent defensive play from Aiden Wilson who remained as cool as a cucumber under pressure. The Waterbeach defenders where given the run around by Danny Knight, playing up front with bundles of energy and pace. His enthusiasm was more than matched by Jack Orme, who covered every blade of grass. However, the score remained tied with the only 2 quarters left to play.

After the break, Waterbeach came out strong and finally broke the deadlock with a well taken goal. This was followed by another quick goal from Waterbeach to double their lead. After all the hard work it was looking ominous for the Tigers. With just the final 7 and a half minutes left to play, Tigers trailed 2-0. It was going to take something special from the Tigers to get a result, and that’s exactly what they got. A spectacular effort from Nico out wide on the right touch line looped over the helpless keeper into the far corner … 2-1. Bridgeman then levelled the score with an effort from outside the Waterbeach area that managed to creep through the defence and under the keeper … 2-2. With the bit between their teeth, the Tigers went for broke. They were soon rewarded for their hard work with the winning goal coming from Grimshaw, another goal mouth scramble that crept over the line. With less than 1 minute left on the clock, the Tigers keeper John Doak produced yet another timely save to deny Waterbeach any hopes of a draw.

With Burwell Tigers getting into the festive spirit early this season, gifting the opposition early leads, they were determined not to do the same on this occasion. With 5 minutes gone, the sides were level and very evenly matched. James J proved to be the rock in the Tigers defence with an assured display. With Jack and Aiden battling hard in the midfield, Tigers may have been ahead had it not been for a brave Stretham defence.

However, towards the end of the first period the Tigers were caught on quick succession, going 2 – 0 down. Not even the valiant efforts of Elijah and Philippe in defence could stem the flow of Stretham pressure. Even after conceding a 3rd somewhat scrappy goal, the Tigers battled on and where unlucky not to be rewarded on several occasions with a goal themselves.

The second period saw Danny and Jacob create yet more opportunities from midfield, which were only kept out through some last ditch tackles from Stretham. When a spectacular 20-yard effort from Nico tickled the crossbar, it seemed the Tigers were destined not to score. And there was nothing John could do to keep out Stretham's forth goal as it whizzed past from all of 15 yards. The Tigers never lost faith, and some timely tackles from James S broke the opposition attack. With just 2 minutes left on the clock, the Tigers got nothing less than they deserved for their efforts when Chris showed his determination as he chased down a lost cause and capitalised on an opposition mistake… Goal!

The final score of 4 – 1 does not do justice to the huge efforts put in by every single player, on what was an extremely cold and wet morning.