City:3 U's:3

So pre-season friendly number five (I think) saw us make the short trip across the river to visit Cambridge City. The match was meant to be the centre piece of a fun day to mark City’s centenary year, but on arrival at Milton Road it became apparent that the extent of the fun was the world’s smallest bouncy castle, which had been erected in the car park. Bless them.



Milton Road


On the pitch United fielded very much a reserve team, with Albrighton, Pitt, and the returning Danny Brown the only names who are likely to start the first league game against York. Both sets of fans were in good voice from the off, with some good banter, mostly involving Jez George and Robbie Simpson, flying about. This was nice to see, and in stark contrast to ‘that’ match with our other local rivals (sic) last season.

City, with ex-United trio of Herbert, Simpson, and Gash in their line up, started positively, and the first opportunity fell to Gash, who latched onto a through ball from Steve Wales, rounded Luke McShane but saw his shot cleared off the line by Albrighton. Minutes later, United were in front when Darren Quinton sprinted forward, played a one-two with Scott Rendell and ran into the area to clip a shot over the diving Sherbert.

Scott Rendell and City's Glen 'it must be' Fuff


However the lead was short lived. Lee Roache found some space in the box, and although McShane saved his shot, Gash was on hand to ram the ball home from close range. United came back strongly, with Pitt and Brown going close from distance and Smith having a close range effort blocked by Sherbs after a good move involving Rendell and Quinton. But City were moving the ball around neatly, and finding space in the United half, with both wing backs, Pitt and Stephen Smith, often AWOL leaving the back three exposed. The inevitable happened five minutes before the break, when Wales found Roache, who shimmied past Josh Coulson and finished with aplomb.

Jimmy Quinn made a raft of changes in the early minutes of the second half, but these only triggered a third goal for City, when Roache finished off from close range. One of the new United faces was Pierre Joseph-Dubois, a trialist striker formerly of Reading. Despite looking a bit light weight, he made a good early impression with some energetic running, winning the ball off a City defender and whipping in a cross that was just too high for the inrushing Michael Hyem.

United pulled a goal back with nine minutes remaining when sub Lee Boylan eluded his marker in the box and headed home a Stephen Reed corner. And it got even better when Mark Convery burst into the area, and saw his shot diverted past the keeper by Joseph-Dubois to give United a generally undeserved equaliser. The young Frenchman could even have snatched a winner, but saw his injury time shot curl just wide.

Lee Boylan

So another friendly goes by and I still feel none the wiser. We weren’t very good for the most part, but when some of our better players came on (Boylan, Convery, Gleeson) we could have conceivably won the match. The obvious concern is up front, where neither Rendell nor Chilli did anything to suggest they should partner Boylan in the York match. Dubois looks promising, and definitely worth another look, but his slight frame may count against him in the rough and tumble world of the BSP.

I’m off on holiday this week, and won’t be back till August 19th. Hopefully by then we’ll have nine points on the board and the promotion push will be in full swing. Ho hum, I’m not holding my breath…

Man of the Match: Danny Brown – The returning skipper enjoyed a comfortable hour, with some accurate passing allied to his usual crunching tackles.

Danny Brown plays the ball into, er, space


Near death experience of the Match: Courtney Pitt’s off target shot which was heading for my face before it clipped the perimeter fence and bounced to safety. My whole life flashed before my eyes.

Read more...

Real U's:1 Fake U's:1

The only strange creatures at Abbey last night were the visiting fans as Championship side (I know, it doesn’t sound right at all) Colchester United rolled in to town with a trio of ex-U’s in tow – the good (Danny Granville), the bad (Luke Guttridge), and the ugly hair-cutted (Jamie Guy).

Lee Boylan’s celebrity strike partner of the day was Nicky Ward from Welsh league side TNS, while behind the front pair it was another mix and match team fielded by the U’s, with Mark Albrighton taking the captains arm band in the continuing absence of Danny Brown.

The real U’s made a much more positive start than against Plymouth, although it has to be said that the Essex boys were far less impressive than our opponents on Saturday. Despite being totally one-footed, Stephen Reed displayed good energy and passing from the left wing back position, and it was his fantastic diagonal pass that created the opening goal. Boylan was on to it in a flash, and finished brilliantly, half volleying the ball past Dean Gerken from the edge of the area.

Boylan continued to impress, being denied another shot at goal by a last ditch tackle and then trundling one wide after good link up play with Dan Gleeson and Hunt. The Welshman looked off the pace at times, but showed a few good touches and some intelligent running that would suggest he is worth another look.

For Colchester Kevin Lisbie and Clive Platt were denied by good saves from Danny Potter, although the latter should really have given the keeper no chance. United’s defence was looking more solid than in the previous two games, with Albrighton and Michael Morrison looking cool under pressure and Gavin Hoyte continuing his gradual improvement.

The second half brought a raft of substitutions, including the introduction of Guttridge and Guy for the visitors. The latter received a hero’s welcome while the former was left in no doubt as to what the Newmarket Road End thought of his ‘contribution’ towards our unsuccessful battle against relegation from the league in 04/05.

Unfortunately chances were not as common as substitutions, and the match looked to be meandering towards a narrow triumph for the hosts until Colchester scored ten minutes from time. A cross from the right ran through to Anthony Wordsworth, who swung his boot at it and saw the ball roll into the corner via the post.

There was still time for United to almost score a winner, when sub Scott Rendell headed in a Reed free kick but was denied by a dubious looking offside decision.

This was another generally promising performance from United, with encouraging signs in all areas of the field. For me the biggest problem with pre-season so far is the constant chopping and changing of the line up. While I realise Jimmy had to try out all his players at some stage, it would be nice to think that he knows what he thinks is his best team and that we will see them all on the pitch at the same time at some stage.

Man of the Match: Lee Boylan – Good link up play, plenty of shots, and a fantastic goal to top it all. Now all we need is a decent partner for him.


Boylan

Big arse of the Match: George Elokobi – The stocky Col U defender has a booty so big that it would put Beyoncé to shame. Not that I was looking of course.


Elokobi?

Read more...

U's:1 Pilgrims:2

After the rural, ahem, charm of St Neots on Tuesday night it was back to the Abbey on Saturday for our first home pre-season game with Plymouth Argyle.

Once more the Quinnster chose to field a mixed team, with burly trialist (hurrah) Steve Burton partnering Lee Boylan up front.

Plymouth had the upper hand from the start, particularly in midfield where Akos Buzsaky and Lilian Nalis were pulling all the strings, and totally dominating United’s tiny trio of Convery, Quinton and Hyem. With neither full back getting forward much either, the supply to the front two was patchy at best. When he did get the ball, Burton did little to impress, winning a few headers but generally looking sluggish and worryingly similar to United’s other non-scoring striker Dan Chillingworth.

To be fair to Courtney Pitt, he was being kept busy by David Norris, one of the best right wingers in the Championship. And it was Norris who gave Argyle the lead, seizing on a poor clearance from Gavin Hoyte, playing a neat one-two with Buzsaky and firing past Danny Potter from the edge of the box.

Mark Albrighton enjoyed an impressive home debut, bossing the back three and looking confident on the ball. Unfortunately Hoyte once again looked nervous, and his passing was often wayward. Meanwhile Adam Davies also gave the ball away on several occasions before succumbing to another knee injury, which looks set to keep him on the sidelines for some time. Get well soon Adam!

Plymouth continued to create chances, and Potter had to be on his mettle to deny Norris a second. United’s only opportunity fell to Hyem, who bustled into the area, beat keeper Roman Larrieu to the ball but saw his shot cannon off the underside of the bar.

Both sides made five changes at half time, and United got a foothold in the game, with Convery getting on the ball more and once again displaying a good range of passing.

The equaliser came when Burton played the ball forward to sub Rob Wolleaston, who skipped into the area and hit a cracking low shot into the far, a similar goal to the one he scored against Dagenham at the end of the last season. The lead lasted about ten minutes, before ex-U Sylvan Ebanks-Blake blast what proved to be the winner from just inside the box.

Again it was a bit of a mixed bag for the U’s, with some good play but a few worrying signs. JQ must be hoping Danny Brown gets some match practice in soon, as without him the midfield looks a bit lightweight. And up front it seems unlikely that Burton will be the man to fill the Robbie Simpson shaped hole in our front line.

Man of the Match: Mark Convery – Uses the ball well and rarely gets dispossessed

Strange creature of the Match – The insect we spotted crawling out of the ditch by the Habbin before the game. It was about three of four inches long, and looked a bit like an overgrown ear wig (see below).




So strange was it's appearance that a crowd of four people had gathered to watch it crawl away into the field. Perhaps the Abbey has spawned a new species…

Read more...

Saints:1 U's:4

After two months without football, with only late night Copa America sessions for company, a trip to St. Neots Rowley Park ground seemed like a good idea. Unfortunately it only took about 10 minutes for the novelty factor to wear off and for me to remember why I hate pre-season friendlies and their slow paced, meaningless football.

There weren't even any comedy trialists to laugh at as Jimmy Quinn fielded a strongish side in the first half, and from the off it was clear United were a bit sharper than their part time, United Counties league hosts. Unfortunately poor finishing, coupled with an extremely bumpy pitch not exactly conducive to free-flowing football, meant the half ended scoreless.

As ever Mark Peters’ class stood out in defence, marshalling his young cohorts Adam Davies and Gavin Hoyte. Davies looked comfortable on his return from such a long injury, while Hoyte was less assured, getting in a muddle on several occasions. Dan Gleeson and Courtney Pitt were lively on the flanks, while in the centre of midfield new signing Mark Convery impressed with some pin point passing. Up front it is easy to see why Lee Boylan has scored so many goals in his career – the diminutive striker is very direct, going for goal at every opportunity.

JQ made a raft of changes in the second half, and United were in front soon after the restart. Boylan muscled his way past a defender on the half way line, and put in a looping cross which sub Dan Chillingworth headed in at the far post. But St Neots were level almost immediately. Michael Morrison failed to deal with a straightforward long ball and a home striker nipped in to beat Danny Potter from close range.
St Neots had brought on the worlds smallest goalkeeper at half time, and it was evident that United would have success putting high crosses in the box. It was one such cross from Robbie Wilmott that allowed Michael Hyem to head the U’s back in front, and shortly afterwards he got his second, this time from an Andy Hughes centre. Josh Coulson scored the fourth, a header from a Stephen Reed free kick, to wrap up a comfortable victory.

As ever with friendlies it’s hard to tell what to make of this match, but there were certainly positives that can be taken out. The new signings, particularly Boylan and Convery, look to be settling in, while some of the CRC players look set to make a real impact on the first team this season.

Man of the Match: Michael Hyem – an all action second half display capped with two opportunist goals

Weirdo of the Match: The charming St Neots fan who spent the whole 90 minutes groaning his support for the home side. At one stage he sat on top of a bin totally obscurring the view for half of the spectators in the 'main' stand.

Read more...