U's:2 Shots:1
For once it was quite nice to watch an FA cup draw safe in the knowledge that we were definitely in the hat. Despite my initial disappointment at not getting Boro/Leeds/Forest, Weymouth is probably as good a tie as we could hope for when it comes to our chances of progressing to round three.
We are through to Round Two, and that home match with Weymouth, thanks to our best all around performance of the season, and no thanks to the incompetent refereeing of Gary Sutton.
Mr Sutton was ‘asked’ to step down from refereeing football league matches at the end of last season, presumably due to the kind of bizarre decision making we saw exhibited on Saturday. The stupidity of the FA when it comes to refs never ceases to amaze me: we play by the same rules in the Conference as they do in the league, so if the guy is crap then why do we have to put up with him? If he’s not good enough then he shouldn’t be refereeing at all until he’s had a spell on the sidelines watching others and learning how to be better. That may sound a bit harsh, but his shoddiness could have cost us £16,000 and a potential money-spinning third round match.
But it didn’t, so I’ll move on. It can’t be a coincidence that our recent return to winning ways has come since JQ stopped messing around with the team. The only change from the win at Torquay saw Danny Potter make a swift and welcome comeback in goal, in place of Luke McShane.
Aldershot are probably the best team we’ve played this season, and it was a relief to see top scorer John Grant, and Lewis Chalmers, he of the enormous throw, warming the bench. They did still have our nemesis of recent seasons, Nikki Bull, between the posts, and he frustrated both Wolleaston and Boylan early on with decent saves, while Daryl Knights also had a shot deflected behind.
United were making all the early running, but were dealt a blow when a clash between Albrighton, Peters, and Shots striker Joel Grant saw the U’s skipper collapse in a heap. He was stretchered off with what looked like a nasty injury, but thankfully turns out to have ‘only’ been a deep cut which required stitches. The imposing figure of Gavin Hoyte was his replacement.
We could have taken the lead shortly after this when enterprising play from Gleeson on the right saw him put in a low cross to Knights. His shot looked to be heading for the top corner before the faintest of touches from Bull deflected it onto the bar.
At this point one began to wonder whether it was going to be one of those days, as Boylan glanced a header wide and a long range Morrison blast was tipped over by Bull. Mr Sutton then decided it was time the crowd paid him some attention, and booked Wolleaston for a dive in the box when he went down under challenge from Straker. Penalty of not (it was hard to tell from where I was standing), there was certainly contact which caused Wolly to go over, so to book him for taking a fall seemed a trifle harsh to say the least.
The Shots hadn’t offered much going forward thus far, but went in front with their first shot on target. Grant flicked a long ball into the path of Johnny Dixon, who was being played onside by Morro as his defensive colleagues pushed up. The striker ran through and confidently beat Potter from just inside the box.
Although the goal was against the run of play, the visitors nearly added a second in the early minutes of the second half, with Grant missing a decent chance from just outside the box. United were soon back on the offensive though, with Reed trying his luck from distance and forcing another decent save from that man Bull. Boylan then shot tamely at the keeper with Pitt screaming for a pass unmarked to his left, but the ex-Canvey man came up trumps moments later with his third goal in successive games.
Knights was the creator, muscling Straker off the ball on the United right, and chipping in a cross which found Boylan leaping like a spring-heeled salmon between two towering defenders to nod into the net. 1-1.
The officials now seemed to be having a contest to see who could give the strangest decision. The lino on the main stand side somehow managed to flag Reed offside after an Aldershot defender headed the ball off his own line and back towards our goal (work that one out) before the referee went one better. Under pressure from Wolly, Shots sub Anthony Charles committed a clear handball in the box. Good old Mr Sutton put his whistle to his lips, pointed to the penalty spot, and, er, waved play on.
Both teams were as bemused as the crowd, and Charles stood with the ball at his feet for a couple of seconds before gratefully booting it to safety. Bull then denied Knights and Rendell, before John Grant, on as sub, shot over when well placed.
Boylan almost scored a brilliant second, exploiting some indecision from Rhys Day to nip in and flick the ball just wide with the outside of his boot. The excellent Bull then turned a dipping shot from Pitt over the cross bar, as United pressed for a second goal.
With both teams beginning to tire, JQ sent on Lemu Fortune-West in place of Rendell, who had led the line superbly despite not adding to his goal tally. This proved to be an inspired change, as with his first touch LFW profited from Bull’s first error of the day to score the winner. Reed launched a free kick into the area, and the keeper inexplicably dashed off his line to try and punch clear but got nowhere near the ball, allowing Leo to snaffle up the loose ball and trickle it into the empty net, despite the diving efforts of defender Rob Gier. The big man looked the happiest I’ve ever seen him when celebrating the goal, as he milked the applause from the ecstatic Newmarket Road End.
We are through to Round Two, and that home match with Weymouth, thanks to our best all around performance of the season, and no thanks to the incompetent refereeing of Gary Sutton.
Mr Sutton was ‘asked’ to step down from refereeing football league matches at the end of last season, presumably due to the kind of bizarre decision making we saw exhibited on Saturday. The stupidity of the FA when it comes to refs never ceases to amaze me: we play by the same rules in the Conference as they do in the league, so if the guy is crap then why do we have to put up with him? If he’s not good enough then he shouldn’t be refereeing at all until he’s had a spell on the sidelines watching others and learning how to be better. That may sound a bit harsh, but his shoddiness could have cost us £16,000 and a potential money-spinning third round match.
But it didn’t, so I’ll move on. It can’t be a coincidence that our recent return to winning ways has come since JQ stopped messing around with the team. The only change from the win at Torquay saw Danny Potter make a swift and welcome comeback in goal, in place of Luke McShane.
Aldershot are probably the best team we’ve played this season, and it was a relief to see top scorer John Grant, and Lewis Chalmers, he of the enormous throw, warming the bench. They did still have our nemesis of recent seasons, Nikki Bull, between the posts, and he frustrated both Wolleaston and Boylan early on with decent saves, while Daryl Knights also had a shot deflected behind.
United were making all the early running, but were dealt a blow when a clash between Albrighton, Peters, and Shots striker Joel Grant saw the U’s skipper collapse in a heap. He was stretchered off with what looked like a nasty injury, but thankfully turns out to have ‘only’ been a deep cut which required stitches. The imposing figure of Gavin Hoyte was his replacement.
We could have taken the lead shortly after this when enterprising play from Gleeson on the right saw him put in a low cross to Knights. His shot looked to be heading for the top corner before the faintest of touches from Bull deflected it onto the bar.
At this point one began to wonder whether it was going to be one of those days, as Boylan glanced a header wide and a long range Morrison blast was tipped over by Bull. Mr Sutton then decided it was time the crowd paid him some attention, and booked Wolleaston for a dive in the box when he went down under challenge from Straker. Penalty of not (it was hard to tell from where I was standing), there was certainly contact which caused Wolly to go over, so to book him for taking a fall seemed a trifle harsh to say the least.
The Shots hadn’t offered much going forward thus far, but went in front with their first shot on target. Grant flicked a long ball into the path of Johnny Dixon, who was being played onside by Morro as his defensive colleagues pushed up. The striker ran through and confidently beat Potter from just inside the box.
Although the goal was against the run of play, the visitors nearly added a second in the early minutes of the second half, with Grant missing a decent chance from just outside the box. United were soon back on the offensive though, with Reed trying his luck from distance and forcing another decent save from that man Bull. Boylan then shot tamely at the keeper with Pitt screaming for a pass unmarked to his left, but the ex-Canvey man came up trumps moments later with his third goal in successive games.
Knights was the creator, muscling Straker off the ball on the United right, and chipping in a cross which found Boylan leaping like a spring-heeled salmon between two towering defenders to nod into the net. 1-1.
The officials now seemed to be having a contest to see who could give the strangest decision. The lino on the main stand side somehow managed to flag Reed offside after an Aldershot defender headed the ball off his own line and back towards our goal (work that one out) before the referee went one better. Under pressure from Wolly, Shots sub Anthony Charles committed a clear handball in the box. Good old Mr Sutton put his whistle to his lips, pointed to the penalty spot, and, er, waved play on.
Both teams were as bemused as the crowd, and Charles stood with the ball at his feet for a couple of seconds before gratefully booting it to safety. Bull then denied Knights and Rendell, before John Grant, on as sub, shot over when well placed.
Boylan almost scored a brilliant second, exploiting some indecision from Rhys Day to nip in and flick the ball just wide with the outside of his boot. The excellent Bull then turned a dipping shot from Pitt over the cross bar, as United pressed for a second goal.
With both teams beginning to tire, JQ sent on Lemu Fortune-West in place of Rendell, who had led the line superbly despite not adding to his goal tally. This proved to be an inspired change, as with his first touch LFW profited from Bull’s first error of the day to score the winner. Reed launched a free kick into the area, and the keeper inexplicably dashed off his line to try and punch clear but got nowhere near the ball, allowing Leo to snaffle up the loose ball and trickle it into the empty net, despite the diving efforts of defender Rob Gier. The big man looked the happiest I’ve ever seen him when celebrating the goal, as he milked the applause from the ecstatic Newmarket Road End.
Chalmers was on the pitch for Aldershot now, and launching his exocet-like throws into the area at every opportunity. To their credit United’s defence coped manfully, although they were let off the hook in spectacular fashion by Joel Grant. A rare error from Peters saw him swing and miss the ball completely allowing John Grant to race into the area and cross for his namesake Joel. With Potter stranded, and just one covering defender on the line, Grant somehow managed to screw his shot across the goal and wide.
3000 Cantabridgian’s breathed a sigh of relief, and moments later the final whistle confirmed our place in the second round. Before the end Scott Davies managed to find time to get a red card for throwing the ball at Courtney as the little wingback lay prone on the ground. The silly boy.
Aside from the goal I can’t remember Aldershot troubling Potter, which is probably an indication of our dominance of the match. We seem to have got over the little sticky spell we had last month, and with Boylan, Knights and Rendell providing a dynamic cutting edge to our attack, one would hope we can make it four victories in a row when winless Northwich come to the Abbey next weekend.
Man of the Match: Daryl Knights – It was one of those days where any of the players would have made worthy choices for MOM, but Knights, who was at the heart of much of our excellent attacking play, just shaded it for me. I look forward to his loan (hopefully) being extended.
Clown of the Match: Take a bow Gary Sutton. Actually don’t: Instead go away and promise not to come back until you’ve familiarised yourself with the rules of football. And take that Nigel Winterburn look-a-like linesman with you.
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