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…