| Cambridge United | 2-0 | Mansfield Town |
| Charles 71' | ||
| Ashbee 78' | ||
| Att: 2,303 |
United line-up: Barrett, Chenery, Ashbee, Duncan, Joseph, Campbell, Wanless (Beall 69'), Preece, Charles, Kyd, Barnwell.
Sub not used: Wilson, Benjamin.
Ref: M E Pierce (Portsmouth).
[Terry Wilby's match report] [My summary of media reports]
Terry Wilby's match report:
A win against a team that are above us in the league. A first for this year!
The first half was pretty boring, the only excitement was seeing a very large St. Johns Ambulance man come on with the stretcher. Usually it's the youth team lads, I guess they were still coming back from an away game, but they were back for the second half. "Sumo" came on 3 times in the first half, if anyone had to go off this chap could have carried 1 player under each arm. I reckon his mates wanted him to lose some weight!
We made few chances, the best in the last minute when a Preece shot was parried to Charles (I think) who scored the rebound but was not allowed for offside. Other chances went either because the final cross was wrong, either too long or too short, or lack of confidence meant no shot was taken when the chance came.
Early in the second half Kyd miss-hit a shot wide, later Charles had a chance but didn't get his shot in when he should have. Wanless got injured and was replaced by Beall after 23 minutes. A couple of minutes later Barnwell headed on a near post corner, which Charles touched in from all of one inch! It probably would have gone in anyway. Soon after Ashbee had a shot saved by the keeper, which turned out to be a sighter as a few minutes later he scored with a super shot from 25 yards that rocketed into the net giving the 'keeper no chance.
From an action point of view that was about all, the other second half excitement being the hail storm which meant using a fluorescent orange ball for a while, it was later changed back to white as the hail melted.
All in all 3 welcome points which were in the end easy, Mansfield not looking particularly interested. Barrett had an easy game. Preece, my MoM, looked a class above, although Billy Beall was good for his time on. Kyd looks to be getting back towards his best, Charles needs a bit more time to get used to the team, Barnwell did not a lot. The defence looked sound, although early on Joseph gave the ball away in dangerous positions. Ashbee played just in front of the defence.
Ratings: Barrett 6, Chenery 6, Ashbee 7, Duncan 6, Joseph 5, Campbell 6, Wanless 6 (Beall 7), Preece 8, Charles 7, Kyd 7, Barnwell 5.
My summary:
Roy McFarland made just one change to the line-up this afternoon, restoring Andy Duncan to defence at the expense of midfielder Billy Beall who sat on the bench alongside Paul Wilson and Trevor Benjamin. Anti-racism flyers were distributed before the game as some supporters made their feelings clear about the abuse handed out by a tiny minority at Cardiff last weekend.
The first half was pretty dire, contested by a Mansfield side who had lost their way to goal and a United side that seemed determined not to score. David Preece probably should have had a penalty as early as the third minute when he was bundled over in the box, but nothing was given. Then in the 16th minute Jamie Barnwell had a chance to fire home from the edge of the box but his shot was tame in the extreme and bobbled gently to the goalkeeper.
Everything changed at half time when a game that had kicked off in bright sunshine resumed under black skies as a hail storm pelted the Abbey Stadium and turned the pitch into a skating rink. The orange ball was called into use for the first time since December 1992 when a match against Blackburn Rovers was abandoned. Mansfield were missing their two top scorers and it showed as they provided no threat whatsoever.
Paul Wanless, who was doubtful before the game with a knee injury, was replaced by busy 'Billy' Beall on 69 minutes. Two minutes later on-loan striker Lee Charles got his reward for some good effort and movement when he marked his home debut with his first goal for United, heading home from very close range when a David Preece corner was flicked on by Barnwell.
There were boos when the 'lucky' orange ball was replaced with the original but Ian Ashbee added the second goal twelve minutes from time, bringing the ball forward and then firing home a screamer from 20 yards. David Preece was influential in midfield, showing his experience and class and Michael Kyd looked more like his old self. Kyd and Jamie Barnwell might have added to the goals but they were both slow to react when good passes set them up for clear-cut openings in front of goal.
Mansfield had no answer and Scott Barrett was not called upon to save a shot throught the match. The visitor's only shot in target came in the last minute when sub Darrell Clarke's drive was deflected by Andy Duncan for a corner, leaving United fans free to celebrate only their second win of the year - with the added bonus that Peterborough were beaten last night!
Many thanks to Terry for his report and ratings.
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