BEN SULLIVAN reports from Brunton Park as United pick up just one point from a game they controlled.

CAMBRIDGE United were left with that familiar festive feeling of expectations not quite fulfilled after making the 500-mile round trip to Carlisle for just a solitary point.

As they had at Brentford a week earlier, United completely dominated the game, only to be denied by excellent goalkeeping and some fairly mediocre refereeing. Even new Carlisle manager Nigel Pearson admitted Trevor Benjamin deserved a penalty after being upended in the box by Billy Carr nine minutes into the second half, and referee Graham Laws turned down what looked an equally good appeal with 15 minutes left.

"The first one did look a penalty, but I was a fair way away from it," said Pearson after watching his side at Brunton Park for the first time. "But I'd rather talk about my goalkeeper. Tony Caig has made three outstanding saves and the one he made from the volley was absolutely fantastic."

John Taylor's strike from Martin Butler's knock-down after 72 minutes looked every inch a goal until Caig somehow scrambled it round a post. Taylor held his head in his hands with disbelief, but by that stage United should not have been worrying about a winner. They had already created enough to win most games two or three times over.

Butler had the best of those chances, forcing Caig into those two other outstanding saves. Without a goal in seven games, Butler will rarely go closer than he did twice in the space of a minute at the start of the second half.

First Alex Russell slipped him clear with a typically clever pass, and Caig was out quickly to save with his feet. From the corner the ball broke to Butler on the edge of the area and the keeper tipped his curling shot on to the bar.

Russell and his opposite number Paul McGregor were the outfield's outstanding individuals and both scored special goals. They made an interesting contrast. McGregor -- on loan from Nottingham Forest -- tormented Jamie Campbell in particular with his pace and dribbling, while Russell's weapon of choice is the rapier pass.

It was his shooting, however, which caught the eye after just three minutes. First he forced Caig to scramble a 20-yarder round the post, before beating him from five yards further out just seconds later.

For 20 minutes the home side could not get the ball out of their own half -- at least with a Carlisle shirt anywhere near it. Taylor, Butler and Neil Mustoe all had half chances, before McGregor turned Campbell inside out and the game on its head. Stuart Whitehead's crossfield pass found McGregor on the edge of the area and he turned Campbell first one way and then the other before lifting the ball over Arjan Van Heusden.

That was after 27 minutes and at least the lift it gave the home side meant the game came close to becoming a contest for the rest of the half. It reverted to type after the break and Van Heusden could quite comfortably have played with his Christmas presents for all the threat Carlisle carried.

Only McGregor hinted at danger, but the winger's best work was all done way out of range. At the other end, Campbell had a header cleared off the line, Butler curled an effort just over and Taylor watched his volley somehow kept out. Even Ben Chenery got in on the act, bursting into the box but mis-hitting his shot from substitute Richard Walker's pass.

"I don't think the players could do any better in terms of chances created," said United manager Roy McFarland. "I'm pleased with our football. The last two performances away from home have been excellent. The way we are playing now I am just looking forward to the next game."

There are matches you need to win if you are to go up automatically, and this was one of them. United dominated, controlled and dictated the pace in this encounter but fine goalkeeping and one moment of brilliance denied them all the points. Two scorching goals lit up this dark winter game as Cambridge United failed to capitalise on the opportunities presented to them.

United strolled into an early lead as Alex Russell fired a thunderbolt of a shot from just outside the area past Caig with barely three minutes on the watch. It followed an opening spell when United could have taken the lead on more than one occasion. An earlier shot from Russell had been palmed out to the feet of Butler who struck his shot wide of the post. A minute later the same player found himself through on goal but failed to test the goalkeeper with a weak shot.

After Russell's goal though Carlisle began to push themselves back into the match with Paul McGregor, on loan from Nottingham Forest, finding the space to exploit down the right flank. Campbell was having a torrid time, and the whole team appeared to be giving the danger man the freedom of the pitch, seemingly happy to leave him unmarked and able to run the defence ragged.

United were containing the rest of the Carlisle team quite well, with Mustoe and Wanless bossing the midfield and releasing Benjamin and Butler to attack the Carlisle goal. Butler was sent through on 20 minutes but hit his shot over the bar to waste the best opportunity to double the lead.

McGregor then produced a moment of brilliance just before the half-hour as he scored a quite sublime goal to level the scores. He watched as Campbell failed to get under a lofted ball from midfield then showed alarming control and skill to twist the sorry defender inside out before poking the ball high into the roof of the net and past the helpless Van Heusden.

Carlisle then began to play with a vision and creativity above and beyond their lowly league position would suggest as McGreggor began to take centre stage. The man was everywhere, terrorising and threatening to single-handedley demolish United down the right side. A neat flick off the back of his heel enabled Peter Clark to race into the United box but a brave challenge from Duncan saw the ball cleared for a corner.

A defensive mix up then gave Carlisle a clear cut opportunity to take the lead, but Ian Stephens failed to realise the space and time he had and chose to head a weak attempt into the hands of Van Huesden instead of slotting the ball into the gaping and unguarded United net.

Half time was a welcome event for Cambridge, and we emerged for the second period in aggressive mood. Martin Butler broke free within 2 minutes of the re-start and watched his shot tipped over the bar by Tony Caig in the Carlisle goal. From the resulting corner the ball was cleared, only to be fed to the feet of Butler once again and this time his effort from just inside the area was acrobatically tipped onto the bar by Caig. Another corner for United was swung in, but Taylor was penalised for pushing and a relieved Carlisle defence gratefully cleared the ball to survive this early second half onslaught.

United continued to control the game for much of the second period, during which the impressive McGreger faded into obscurity and Carlisle were unable to enforce any kind of pressure within the final third. Neil Mustoe began to take a grip of the game and his hard work and battling qualities were there for all to see.

John Taylor struggled for most of the game to assert his presence, but came the closest to giving United all the points they deserved. His low volley from a Paul Wanless flick on was astonishingly saved by Caig on 71 minutes, who defied belief to scramble low to his near post to pull off a breathtaking save and concede yet another corner. Moments later, Jamie Campbell watched as his goal-bound header beat the in-form 'keeper but was cleared off the line by defender Andy Cozens.

In terms of possession and creation United won the second half hands down, simply too good for the Carlisle team who appeared to have exhausted themselves with their first half efforts. Duncan was simply mind-blowing at the back once again, another example of his growing ability to organise and motivate the entire back line.

A minute after Jamie Campbell's disappointment of watching his shot cleared from the line, United were left outraged as referee G Laws ignored Trevor Benjamin being clearly pushed to the ground inside the penalty box. Richard Walker then replaced the disinterested and ineffective Benjamin, whose lacklustre game was both worrying and unacceptable. Walker once again showed neat control and awareness and with his first ball set Mustoe free on the left-hand side but his final ball was intercepted by the Carlisle defence. He showed further touches of competence and skill, which are likely to see him given his first start of the season at Hartlepool next Saturday.

There were to be few other clear cut opportunities for the remainder of the entertaining match, and the final whistle was greeted far more enthusiastically by the impressive Carlisle crowd. It was overall another decent performance with United feeling very disappointed they were unable to take all the points as their promotion rivals Cardiff and Halifax had done earlier in the season.

Once again one of the most worrying things to come out of the match was the performance and attitude of Trevor Benjamin, who seemed rather uninterested with events surrounding him, and certainly needs to sort himself out as Richard Walker appears to be a player more than capable of holding his own in this division. He is by no means bigger than this club, and at just 19 years of age needs to grow up quickly, before he gets a very bad reputation indeed.

Four points from a possible six is, I am sure, a statistic Roy McFarland would have settled for. It had served to secure United's position in the table, and most importantly had produced two performances which would have undoubtedly warmed the hearts of the travelling United fans who have recently watched the team crash to three successive away defeats including an humiliating result and performance at Macclesfield in the F.A. Cup.

Certainly with a bit more luck United would have taken maximum points from their Christmas fixtures, but we must start to learn that pressure and possession are useless attributes unless you develop the ability to take a high-enough percentage of the chances to win the matches. Brentford, Peterborough and Carlisle could and perhaps should have produced nine points had we taken just a few more of the chances created. Instead we have taken just one, highlighting the need for a return to the ruthless and sensational finishing we have adopted away from home for most of the season to date.

Will Jones

We didn't even know there was a pitch inspection until 1.30pm. We were pleased that the game was on and made our way to the ground. It was an extortionate £11 to sit. The game started off well with Russell scoring after 3 mins, but Carlisle soon got themselves sorted out and found the weakness in our squad. (Campbell) He just kept leaving this player unmarked and he ran rings round Campbell. This resulted in them scoring after 37 mins. I must admit the player did well and he had an excellent finish.

Further to what Wil said, he did dwindle out of the game. That's probably why he was taken off early in the second half!!!!!

I think this was another game we could and should have won. If it wasn't for the keeper making 3 excellent saves in the second half they would of been dead and buried.

Happy New Year to you all.

Cambridge United made one change to the side which beat Rotherham on Saturday as Neil Mustoe, the scorer of the injury-time winning goal, replaced Ian Ashbee. The pitch passed an inspection after a dusting of snow, but although the ground staff had to brush the line markings clear of snow it was thawing by kick-off.

The U's got off to an excellent start when a first minute defensive mix-up allowed in John Taylor who found Alex Russell, but the midfielder's shot was turned around the post by Tony Caig for a wasted corner. Then Russell played a great ball through to Trevor Benjamin whose cross was cut out by Stuart Whitehead, but the pressure paid off after just two and a half minutes when Marc Joseph's long throw bounced off a defender, Paul Wanless prodded the ball to Alex Russell who blasted the ball home from just outside the box, despite a touch from Caig.

United's next noteworthy chance came in the 19th minute when Wanless found Martin Butler inside the box, Butler turned well but slipped at the vital moment and spooned the shot over the bar. The striker who started the season in such good form clearly needs a goal to reward his unstinting effort during this barren spell.

Unfortunately Carlisle levelled the score in the 27th minute through Nottingham Forest loanee Paul McGregor. Whitehead's long cross found McGregor who turned Jamie Campbell, checked inside the defender and beat Arjan Van Heusden to score a well-taken goal in front of the 100 or so travelling U's. That goal put Carlisle back into the game and they bossed things until half-time, which came at just the right time for United. Carlisle had a good chance in the 40th minute when Jamie Campbell let in Stevens to head the ball over Van Heusden, but the giant goalkeeper just managed to clutch the ball above his head. (Half-time 1-1)

The half-time talk did the trick as far as United were concerned and they returned to play Carlisle off the park. In the 46th minute Russell put Butler through on Tony Caig but the ball hit the keeper's legs and bounced over. The resulting corner was cleared but Butler again burst into the box only to see his shot tipped onto the bar and over for another corner. In the 51st minute Taylor's industry set up Butler but the pass sent him wide and his shot was wide of goal on that side.

United were completely dominating the game but they were denied two clear-cut penalty appeals that might have delivered the points that their play and dominance deserved. The first came after 57 minutes when Jamie Campbell fed Trevor Benjamin and the big striker turned Billy Barr in the area only to be brought down by the defender. It was a clear penalty astoundingly ignored by referee Mr Laws.

In the 71st minute a Martin Butler cross was deflected and looped in the air to John Taylor, and his low shot drew a brilliant save from goalkeeper Caig. Three minutes later Jamie Campbell met a Russell cross but his header was headed off the line by Andy Couzens. Then a minute later came the second penalty claim, after Trevor Benjamin broke into the and was shoved in the back by Whitehead (?) only for Mr Laws to again disregard the United appeals.

On-loan striker Richard Walker replaced Benjamin with fifteen minutes left and looked lively, but that was the last real chance of the game. However United had played some excellent football and completely dominated after the break and, in reporter Mark Johnson's words, if this had been a boxing match it would have been stopped long before the final bell!