20 word match report - FGR:1 U's:1

One 20-word match report this week, courtesy of haiku-maestro Ling's Awkward Smile

Crow the goal machine
We've forgotten how to win
Stop sitting so deep
- Ling's Awkward Smile

*If you'd like to submit a match report - of 20 words or less - about a future match, you can email me via cufcblog@googlemail.com, visit the U's Blog twitter page, or leave a comment under a recent post.

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FGR:1 U's:1 - all downhill from here?

I actually think I'd struggle to have less interest in the Winter Olympics, a competition surely designed purely for the benefit of those snowy countries (Switzerland, Norway, Austria etc) who have no chance of winning a medal at the real Olympics.

I mean, who really cares if Amy Williams has won a medal in extreme sliding, or professional sledging, or whatever that sport she does is? It's not that interesting, and while they may still be dancing on the streets of her home town Bath, I suspect the rest of us will have forgotten about Saturday's "historic moment" in a couple of weeks.

Of more concern to me is the speed at which United's season is heading downhill, like a skier who has lost his poles and is heading off-course towards a calamitous collision with some alpine trees, or a mountain goat, or (perhaps more aptly) a moose. Despite Danny Crow's goal, we were unable to hold onto our lead against lowly Forest Green, who equalised in the second half with the help of some fairly woeful defending, as you'll see below.



A point is better than nothing I suppose, but we should be able to see off teams like FGR, and the longer this winless run goes on the more and more fragile what little confidence the players have will become.

If we go on to beat Tamworth next Saturday then a return of five points from a possible nine doesn't look too bad, but any other result and amount of knives which are currently aimed at our manager is bound to increase, especially when you consider the following three matches are against Oxford (league leaders), Barrow (strong at home vs crap away) and Histon (sort-of derby match). Call me a pessimist, but if we can't get three points against bumbling-along-in-mid-table-with-nothing-much-to-play-for Tamworth, I don't fancy our chances of winning any of those next three either.

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Wicked wicked, the Forest Green match is massive

Old school joke for a Friday afternoon.

Q: Why did the monkey get lost?
A: Coz de jungle is massive

Indeed the jungle may, in the words of M Beat (feat General Levy), be massive, but our game against Forest Green tomorrow is, er, massiver, according to Lingy.

"Whether the Chester points go or not, this is no hiding from the fact that this is a massive game against a team in the bottom four," our leader told the official site, after describing it as "the biggest game of the season" so far. All well and good, but in the same interview he goes to great lengths to stress the importance of taking the pressure off the players during the run in, and I'm not really sure how these two things marry up. Surely describing a game as the biggest of the season is just putting more pressure on? Especially as we're not exactly at crisis point yet. Oh well, I'm sure he knows what he's doing, probably just wants to keep those lazy git players on their toes.

In unrelated news, Wrexham manager Dean Saunders has taken time out from his busy schedule of signing over the hill foreigners and Premier League loan players to appeal for more help in getting promoted.

He said: "As full-time clubs in the Conference we are the teams that everyone else wants to beat yet we sometimes even find ourselves at a disadvantage against part-time clubs.

"I tried to sign a player from one such club a couple of months ago who was earning £350 a week from his football, but was not interested in coming full-time with us because he was also earning £700 from his day job and I could not match that.

"It must surely be in the interests of the Football League that such clubs, hopefully back on an even keel and being run on sensible lines, are given every opportunity to strengthen and improve the quality of the competition in League Two and eventually even higher up in the pyramid."

It's an interesting point he makes, and one that, as a supporter of one of the bigger Conference clubs, I'm sure we can all feel some empathy with. After all, do Macclesfield, Accrington, et al bring more to the football league that Cambridge, Oxford, or Wrexham would? I'd say almost certainly not. But at the same time I don't know exactly what he expects anyone to do about it. Obviously it works both ways, and United or Wrexham are probably more likely to get the signature of a full-time player who might not want to go part-time due to the stigma attached.

And as much as it pains me to say it, the traditional football league clubs currently doing time in the Conference are there on merit, Luton being the only possible exception. And if the big teams are getting outshone by the small ones, they have a look at themselves rather than sit and bleat about what others can do about the situation.

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Goals goals goals

Footballers are a spiteful bunch.

I went to our first two home games of the season, and didn't see so much as a goal, let alone a point. Did they not appreciate that I clambered off my sick bed to see us keel over at the feet of Crawley? But as soon as I jet off on my wonderful honeymoon they find the net ten times in two home games, while also picking up a useful point at Rushden. Now I'm back, we can only hope the players don't return to their old shot-shy ways in tonight's match against Altrincham. If they do, I'll happily take donations so that me and the missus can afford to stay on holiday for the rest of the season. For the good of the team of course.

Apart from the glut of goals, it's been pleasing to note we've only conceded once in the four games since Brian Saah's arrival, and I'm looking forward to seeing him in action for the first time. We seem to be getting all the "easy" games out of the way first this year, having played and beaten all four current residents of the relegation zone. So while I suspect we will not have a firm idea about our promotion chances until we've faced stronger opposition, we are at least not yet looking back on points dropped against the divisions lesser lights.

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U's:0 FGR:1

I know it's not especially helpful to think in terms of what if's, given that we're second in the league and look set fair for another run at the play-off's.

But as Burton continue to wobble like a marmite-flavoured jelly, you can't help but wonder what would have happened if we'd held onto a couple of the leads we threw away earlier in the season. Of if we'd have put away a couple of the five or six clear chances we spurned in yesterday's game.

As it is our chances of winning the title seem to have receded after yesterday's surrender to Forest Green. I'd like to think we can still overhaul the Brewers, but with games running out Torquay look more likely challengers to Roy Macfarland's men, especially if they can beat them at the Pirelli Stadium tomorrow night.

Jim Harvey's team were worthy winners in a match that reminded me a fair bit of the clash with Stafford at the end of last season; United didn't play well at any stage, and while we went close to scoring on several occasions, our attacking play always lacked a bit of conviction, and the visitors were able to find space in midfield seemingly at will, with neither Carden nor Reason asserting themselves as we know they can.

Most of the visitors best moves came down our right flank, with Simon Ainge enduring the worst home debut by a United player since Trevor Robinson first strode proudly onto the Abbey turf. Ainge looked vaguely better when he moved to centre back to replace the injured Bolland, but one hopes he can and will improve with match practice. In front of him, Parky was making his first start of 2009, but looked decidedly rusty, and Forest Green took full advantage, playing their usual patient brand of passing football.

Veteran striker David Brown was at the heart of a lot of their best moves, and it took a good interception from Bolly to deny Andy Mangan after a clever Brown pass had put him in on goal. It was only a temporary reprieve though, as moments later Mangan found more space in the area, accelerated away from Ainge and lofted the ball over the advancing Potter and into the far corner. Blast. 1-0.

Rendell should have given us the lead prior to this, but missed the target from a good position, with the ball screwing off his boot and almost going out for a throw in. With neither of the wingers doing much of note, our biggest threat was the pace of Holroyd, and he perhaps should have had a penalty when he cut inside Lee Ayres and fell under challenge. Unfortunately the ref deemed it to be a dive and booked the former Chester man for diving; I was too far away to see whether or not this was merited, but to my not-biased-at-all eye it looked like a stick-on pen.

Anyway, Terry Burton made a good save to deny Tonkin, but all too often the Rovers keeper was left to simply pluck crosses out of the sky, with United's final ball letting them down too often.

The second half started a bit more promisingly, with Hatswell heading against the bar and Reason volleying over from the rebound when he really should have hit the target at least. Forest Green still looked dangerous on the break, with the livewire Mangan almost breaking through on a couple of occasions, but by and large they let United have the ball as frustration grew on the terraces.

Danny Crow made a lively appearance off the subs bench, and it was his pass that put Carden in the clear on the left. But as the skipper got to the byline, his low centre zipped across the six yard box, eluding Rendell, Holroyd, and Willmott in the process. At this point you began to get the feeling United would never score, and Rendell was unlucky to see a great overhead effort cleared off the line, while Burton blocked efforts from our top scorer and substitute Darryl McMahon. Then right at the death Holroyd found some space, accelerated into the box, but with Rendell screaming for a pass unmarked to his left, the young striker blazed a poor shot over the bar, and in one moment summed up United's afternoon.

The defeat itself isn't the end of the world, but it could have been avoided, and you wonder whether Brabin's tinkering had an effect on the performance. Although neither Challinor nor Pitt excelled against Woking, was there really any need to change a winning team? Especially to install a new right sided partnership (Ainge and Parky) that had previously started one game between them this season. We can only hope that Glees and Bolly won't be on the sidelines for too long, as our defensive cupboard is looking a bit bare at present.

Man of the Match: Anthony Tonkin - Not a huge selection of good candidates to choose from, but Tonker was solid at the back and gave us a bit of drive down the left.

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FGR:2 U's:2

So now I, and other viewers of last nights game at Forest Green, know what you learn when you embark on the UEFA “A” coaching licence course.

If the Brabinator is anything to go by, you are taught to draw a big circle on a white board, and write HIGHER TEMPO in the middle of it. Lucky we can call on such advanced coaching techniques, I’m sure it really gives us the edge over other teams.

As well I had to laugh when Steve Bower described the game as being a “match with a lot of quality about it.” It was entertaining game, but only, as with a lot of Conference matches, because the ineptitude of both teams meant there were chances aplenty. United’s consistent failure to maintain possession was our downfall, with the Carden-shaped hole in our midfield particularly noticeable. Meanwhile the homes sides backline looked porous throughout

The one real moment of quality in the first half saw FGR take the lead. Andy Mangan turned neatly away from Tonker, and put in an inviting cross which was flicked past Danny Potter by the inrushing Michael Symons. Rovers had the better of the first half, and Potter had to be alert to make two good saves from Simon Clist, while Ben Farrell cleared a shot off the line.

But once United got going it was clear why Forest Green have plummeted down the league of late. They looked susceptible to any ball into the box, with keeper Ryan Robinson possessing the bizarre knack of being able to jump seemingly lower than he stands. LFW (bless him) used to suffer from the same problem.

The equaliser came after Challinor was brought down on the right near the corner flag. Willmott whipped in a tempting centre which found Hatswell arriving late to head in a goal against his old club. Not quite as spectacular as the last one, but they all count. 1-1.

Beesley had already seen a shot well saved by Robinson, and before half time Bolland saw a header tipped round the post.

It was a taste of what was to come after the break, with United taking control of the match. To give Brabs his due, he seemed to change the shape slightly, from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2, with Willmott wide left and Farrell moving to the right wing. We looked a lot more solid after this, and Bees missed two glorious chances to give us the lead, shooting wide then playing a one-two with Danny Crow but shooting straight at the keeper before seeing the rebound blocked on the line by Darren Jones.

Our second arose from a great run from Willmott, who picked the ball up in his own half and just ran and ran. For once his final ball was good as well, bypassing the keeper and allowing Danny Crow to nod into the empty net. I always knew he had it in him, ahem.

Sadly we conceded an equaliser almost immediately. A long free kick into the box wasn’t dealt with convincingly, and after a spell of pinball Mark Preece rammed home from close range.

A draw was probably a fair result on the balance of play, but I having gone 2-1 up I suspect last years team would’ve held the lead. I’m yet to be convinced that the 08/09 class have the same mental toughness, but we shall see.

Man of the Match: Robbie Willmott – A constant menace who finally displayed some decent end product. Keep it up Robbie.













Mong of the Match: Paul Parker – Good old Parks. The highlight of another bizarre display of anti-Cambridge bile came in the build up to our first goal. “That was never a foul for me”, he opined, as the replay showed a Forest Greener kicking Challinor in the shin. Perhaps he needs to be re-acquainted with a footballing rule book.

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FGR

OF all the places to spend a Thursday afternoon, Stevenage wouldn’t be top of my (or indeed I suspect anyone’s) list.

But here I am, staring out the window at a picture not dissimilar to a scene from 28 Days Later, only with less attractive looking zombies. In the distance the spindly floodlights of Broadhall Way loom unimpressively amid squalid tower blocks and scaffolding, it’s great.

And as I’m here I obviously can’t be on my way to Forest Green, and will instead be watching tonight’s match from the comfort of my sofa.

“I'm a bit of a perfectionist,” the Brabinator tells todays CEN. "It means we're still coming away from games, where we've drawn or even won 1-0, and we're disappointed with ourselves and that shows the high expectations we have."

Personally I’m not sure if wishing to beat truly terrible teams like Grays and Lewes by a margin of more than one goal really constitutes having high expectations, but there we go. Hopefully we will give FGR a tonking.

In Evil’s absence I’d love to see GB plump for a lightning quick front pair of Wilmott and Holroyd, but if I was a betting man I’d put money on him taking the fatter option and restoring Danny Crow to the starting line up. After all, he did so well last time we were on TV didn’t he…

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