U's 2 - 1 Impington Lumberjacks

Is it just me who feels like they've woken up in 2002 today?

The national media have gone into a frenzy because David Beckham will miss the World Cup, as if the former England skipper picking up an Achilles tendon injury is a catastrophic blow to our slender chances of winning the tournament in South Africa.

I feel sorry for Becks, who always strikes me as a decent chap, but in footballing terms I reckon his absence will be about as damaging as that of Wes Brown.

Still, it would be nice to go back to 2002 in some ways; United were in the league, albeit getting thumped every week in what is now League One, while Histon were in some obscure regional division on the brink of their "fairytale" rise.

Happily the signs are that normal service could soon be resumed. On Saturday's showing the Villagers are a shadow of their former selves, while Lingy's United are beginning to resemble the kind of team which can achieve success in the Conference. Our 2-1 win, courtesy of goals from Scotty Neilson and Paul Carden, lifts us to within four points of Histon with a game in hand.

Coulson and Saah (my man of the match) were excellent at the back, and Gleeson showed what an excellent player he is when replaced the disappointing Kevin Roberts. Carden also put in his best showing for ages, dominating the middle of the park and enjoying a good tussle with their outstanding player, Glen Southam.

Scott Neilson was a lot better than at Kettering on Tuesday, and always looked menacing when he got on the ball. And up front, though Crow was quiet by his own high standards, Willock again impressed, and must be staking his claim for a contract at least until the end of the season. A word too for Antonio Murray, who made an impact from the bench and was involved in both goals.

You worry (well, not that much) for the Lumberjacks, whose new players, Southam aside, didn't look up to much. Sheringham's hopeless, brainless, penalty, amazingly awarded for a handball only the referee saw, summed up their efforts in attack, which lacked any kind of quality. If their budget is cut even further I don't see their stay in this division lasting much beyond next season, assuming they survive this time around. And in truth their pathetic support of 305 for what is supposedly a derby game doesn't really merit a place at this level of football. Not an original thought I know, but a true one none-the-less, and they contributed little to what was a very flat atmosphere.

So yeah, all in all a pleasing result from what was a very poor game. It's a bit worrying that it took a goal from them to get us going, but credit to Lingy for making a double change - bringing on Murray and Gleeson - which turned things around. Our manager has shown himself to be astute and decisive on several occasions this season when it comes to making substitutions, and that bodes well for the future.

What also pleases me is the team's resilience, having ground out three wins in the last week despite, by all accounts, not dominating any of the games. Certainly the Kettering and Histon performances have been reminiscent of Quinn-era United, and if Lingy can re-create a side in that one's image, we could be in for fun times next season.

*To submit your 20-word match reports on the Histon match, email cufcblog@googlemail.com, visit the U's Blog twitter page, or leave a comment under this post.