If you weren't at Rockingham Road on Tuesday night, here is fottage of Danny Crow's sexy winning goal, courtesy of MatBro51;
Also, below are a couple of 20-word match reports on what was our second successive victory;
Another great win,
Now just need to play better,
Coulson was awesome
- Ling's Awkward Smile
Felt like the away 'terrace' was tarmaced by the Histon arborists... Great result though. The future is bright.
- @stevelee23
What's that I see on the horizon? It must be the glorious glow of mid-table mediocrity beckoning United forward; good bye Grays, hello Hayes and Yeading. Farewell Forest Green, ahoy Altrincham. The race for 12th is back on.
Excuse the heady optimism, but I think I'm still in shock at having seen United win a match. It wasn't the prettiest of victories, and indeed we were under the cosh for much of the first half. But we showed good resolve to match a very physical Kettering side, and had a few chances to win the match in the second period before Carlos Crow finally found the net.
The victory at least went some way to justifying the £16 admission price at Rockingham Road, if indeed anything can truly justify paying that amount of money to stand on a piece of sloping concrete and watch two terrible football teams scrap it out for 90 minutes. Kettering are hopeless, and the fact that they are still in contention for the play-offs says more about the lack of quality in the Blue Square Premier than it does about Lee Harper's managerial skills.
To be fair the Poppies weren't so hopeless that they couldn't dominate the first half, as United ceded possession to their hosts time and time again. Simon Brown had to be at his best to parry away an Elliot Charles effort which took a slight deflection en route to goal, before leaping to touch a Jordan Hadfield shot over the bar. Hadfield did beat the U's keeper with a curling effort from 25 yards, but this flew just wide of the post.
United had their chances on the break, with full debutant Callum Willock putting in an impressive stint of line-leading. If he continues this kind of form Big Phill's days could be numbered. Scott Neilson wasn't so impressive, doing little of note until his lofted through ball found Danny Crow all alone just inside the area, but he dragged an angled shot across goal and wide when he really should have tested Zema's bro, Nathan Abbey, in the Kettering goal.
It was a different story in the second half, with Willock and the previously quiet Simon Russell instigating a good number of promising attacks. Kettering were still a threat, especially from set pieces, and Aiden Palmer had to clear one header from roly-poly defender Ian Roper off the line after a well worked set piece.
But it was United who claimed the only goal of the game, seconds after Abbey had made a tremendous double to stop a header from Crow, then smuggle Neilson's follow up behind for a corner. The initial flag kick from Russell was cleared back to the on-loan York man, whose centre came off a gaggle of defenders and was picked up by Crow, who controlled the ball before firing high into the net. 1-0.
Kettering put together a bit of an on-slaught in the closing stages, but Brown wasn't really troubled unduly. The only scare came, naturally enough, following a corner, which one of their substitutes blasted high over the bar from close range. Three minutes of injury time were successfully negotiated with the help of the U's travelling faithful, who provoked a foul-mouthed tirade from Poppies captain John Dempster when they kept the ball after it had gone over the advertising hoardings.
Lingy would be justified in feeling particularly smug after our recent upturn in form. Our unbeaten run has coincided with him fielding a line up predominantly made up of his own players, and we now look (mostly) solid at the back and offer a sporadic but significant threat in attack. If we continue to apply ourselves in such a fashion any lingering relegation fears will soon be vanquished.
Man of the Match: Simon Brown - Two or three excellent saves from the big stopper, who also displayed sound handling when dealing with Kettering's numerous set pieces.
*To submit your 20-word match reports on the Kettering match, email cufcblog@googlemail.com, visit the U's Blog twitter page, or leave a comment under this post.
It's common knowledge that Histon are all about saving money at the moment, and it seems the playing budget isn't the only thing being cut back at the Glassworld.
For the Villagers have landed themselves in hot water by chopping down a load of protected trees near their ground.
Stop laughing at the back, it's a serious business, and one which could see the cash-strapped Stutes lumbered with a £20,000 fine. To make matters worse, the perpetrators seem to have conveniently vanished.
"We had an address for them [the tree fellers] but when we tried to contact them there was no-one there. They are travellers and must have moved on. They have disappeared," a folorn sounding Tony Roach told today's CN. Travellers moving on eh, who could have forseen such a thing? I hope the Villagers got a receipt.
Histon seem to lurch from one disaster to another at the moment, with Roach, Uncle Fester, and the players contradicting each other from one day to the next. One can only think that it's karma coming round to kick them up the backside for all the gloating and smugness we have had to endure from the Glassworld in recent years, and hopefully they will be destablised enough that we can at least manage a draw in Saturday's match.
Before that United travel to Kettering tonight looking to extend our unbeaten run to five games. Is it too late for a play-off charge?
I don't know what was worse on Saturday; United losing to Kettering or Mssrs. Fry and McAnthony lording it up in our stadium as they confirmed the identity of their new manager.
Fat Barry was even on his feet celebrating when the second goal went in; presumably he's looking forward to Mark Cooper bringing a few of his giant players - and Kettering's easy-on-the-eye brand of total football - to London Road.
If that sounds like sour grapes, then that's because it is. Kettering bear more than a passing resemblance to JQ's 2007/08 United vintage; strong, physical, and hard to break down at the back, they get the ball forward quite quickly and let their skillful attackers do the rest. It's probably the ideal set up for this division, though whether Cooper will be able adapt his system for The Championship remains to be seen.
Back to United, and while I didn't think we played that badly, we struggled to impose ourselves on the Kettering giants; a lot of our possession ended with unconvincing shots from distance, and when we did get a proper chance of course it had to fall to Crowy who, as usual, was about as deadly as a viper with dentures.
I have to question a couple of Lingy's choices as well. Firstly I felt the move from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 was a strange one, considering the success we were having against the Poppies back line was coming from the flanks. Pitt was probably our most dangerous attacker, so to remove him and Willmott in one go was a bit counter-productive, and just seemed to make the (already crowded) middle of the pitch even more congested.
Secondly, why wasn't one of Maz or JP on the bench? I imagine it was with an eye to CRC's FA Vase game, but surely the first team takes priority? I fail to see the point of having two central midfielders (Ives and Challinor) in reserve when one could have been sacrificed for a more attacking option.
Ho hum, onwards and, er, onwards. I'm not usually a pessimistic sort, but I think there's more chance of George Burley still being in a job come Saturday than us getting three points at Luton. I'll wait to be proved wrong.
Having suffered that unfortunate defeat at Stevenage last week, I didn't expect to be returning from my belated mid-season break to find United still in with a shout of winning the league.
It may only be an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polkadot bikini, I mean, er, shout, but it's there nevertheless, and means I can continue to live in my optimistic bubble for at least a couple more days.
And is it really that unrealistic to expect Burton to lose against Oxford, the divisions form side of the last three months, and Torquay, who will most probably need points to secure their own place in top five? I don't think it is, especially when you consider that Burton's record against teams in the top half since RMac took over is as follows: P9 W3 D1 L5. And when you also consider that the three wins came against fellow wobblers Wrexham and Histon, and an Eastbourne side with nothing to play for, you begin to realise that we're actually a shoo-in for the title. Put that champagne on ice folks.
Ahem, anyway, back in the real world they'll probably get the single point they need for the title, and United will be stuck in the play-offs again. Still, if reports of Monday's win at Kettering are to be believed, the team appear to have rediscovered their mojo at just the right time. That's if the Brabinator doesn't make any more rogue team changes of course - I can't have been the only one who groaned when they saw that one-paced line up for the Eastbourne match. Ok, so we got away with it in the end, but I hope that's the last we see of 4-3-3 this season; with Pitt and Willmott both finding a bit of form, and Parky getting back up to speed, employing such a narrow formation is not the way forward in my opinion.
Like a blogging version of Tesco’s, I am today offering two match reports for the price of one.
Bank holiday weekend offered a brace of games of contrasting quality, and I’ll start by returning to happier times down on the south coast.
I actually think it would be a good idea if the Conference introduced a new rule decreeing that all away games be played in Eastbourne; what could be better than eating ice cream on the beach in the shadow of a good old fashioned pier, with the sun beating down on your face. You wouldn’t get that at Grays or Stafford, that’s for sure.
Inside the ground there was no segregation, a policy I suspect Eastbourne will review after a visit from some of the leagues more unsavoury sets of fans. But it was good fun (in a non-league kind of way) being able to wade in amongst their singing contingent, which comprised a handful of teenagers and a forlorn-looking drum and flag, the latter of which was captured during the half time interval by some cheeky U’s fans. Bless them.
Anyway, the first half was pretty one-sided, with United dominating proceedings, using the full width of the pitch to good effect. It was just the final ball that was lacking, with Jardim, Willmott, and Beesley all putting crosses in which failed to find waiting team mates.
But the result never looked in doubt once Evil had swept us into the lead with his fourth goal in as many games. Challinor worked the ball onto Beesley, who fed a perfect through pass into his strike partners feet. Big Lee took a couple of touches before guiding a low shot across the keeper into the far corner. 1-0.
Eastbourne vaguely resembled the St Albans side who spent a brief spell in the Conference a couple of years ago, knocking the ball around well but lacking any kind of defensive solidity. The second goal came moments before the break; A borough defender trod on the ball just inside his own half, and Evil pounced like a rampaging rhinoceros, surging forward and releasing Jardim. It looked as though the winger had held onto possession for too long, but in fact he timed his pass to perfection, squaring the ball to Ben Farrell, who lashed home from outside the box. 2-0.
The second half was fairly dull by comparison, with Eastbourne seeing more of the ball but doing little of note with it. Danny Potter provided us with a brief moment of excitement when he picked up a Hatswell back pass, but the resulting free kick from inside the area was blocked and cleared by the massed United ranks.
There was time for Chris Holroyd to mark a lively substitute appearance with a debut goal. Again it stemmed from an Eastbourne error which capitalised on by Beesley. His pass put Holroyd in the clear, and he beat Lee Hook with a stylish lofted finish. 3-0, job done.
Man of the Match: Lee McEvilly – At his unplayable best, and capped a good performance with a well-taken goal.
Bank holiday Monday saw Kettering arrive at the Abbey, along with a familiar face from our almost-glorious past; the dulcet tones, receding hairline, and constant mentions of Shrewsbury could only mean that Jimmy Quinn was back, making good on his pre-season promise to offer his punditary skills to Setanta.
After getting comfortable in the home dug out, shaking hands and chatting with the substitutes, JQ beat a hasty retreat pre-kick off, and spent the match watching from the Habbin. Given our lifeless performance, I can only imagine he was infiltrating the players brains, jedi-style, and encouraging them to play aimless long balls in the direction of Evil. Needless to say, the giant Poppies centre backs, Guy Branston and the brilliantly named Exodus Geohaghan, gobbled them up with ease.
Mark Cooper’s side won’t win many style points this season, but the former Tamworth manager had obviously done his homework, and his team worked hard to cut the supply to U’s wide men Jardim and debut-making Chris Jones. They were also a threat going forward, and Gareth Seddon had the best chance of a dull first half when he was denied at close range by Wayne Hatswell.
Five minutes after half time they took the lead, when former United frontman Craig Westcarr sent in a Wolleaston-esque cross/shot which eluded Danny Potter and flew in at the far post.
United had some work to do now, and Phil Bolland reacted well to a Jardim free kick, but shot straight at Lee Harper when well placed.
Any chance we had of getting back into the match evaporated in the 68th minute. Farrell raced after a loose ball, but arrived slightly late and stamped on Westcarr’s foot. The goalscorer went down in mock-agony, and referee Creighton, whose approach to card-issuing throughout the match was as erratic as a dyslexic postman at Christmas, gave the ginger-balled midfielder his marching orders. I’m not surprised the club are appealing what was a shocking decision, and I hope they are successful, not least because the only available alternative may be Darren Quinton, ho hum.
Anyway, with a man advantage the Poppies poured forward, and Chris Beardsley put the result beyond doubt when he finished from close range after fellow sub JP Marna’s fine run and cross.
Kettering deserved the three points, and it was a worrying performance from United, who never got to grips with the visitors physical approach. It is clear from the opening four matches that we can play football as well as the best of them at this level, but without a hard edge to go with it our spell at the top of the table will be as shortlived as Craig Pope’s retirement.
Man of the Match: Wayne Hatswell – no one really stood out, but for the most part 'Hats' kept his head while those around him were losing theirs.
Mutton-dressed-as-lamb of the Match: Setanta’s latest blonde bimbo reporter, who could do with a visit from Trinny and Susannah judging by the bizarre outfit she was wearing.
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