No too much to say about this game,other than United managed to avoid a third successive F.A. Cup exit by eventually winning comfortably 2-0. The game itself was a drab affair played in dingy and drizzly conditions and United only showed glimpses of the form that has made them formidable travelers this season.

The victory itself was important but the performance was very low key against a generally poor Telford side that looked as if they would cave in under a concerted spell of pressure. This was the main area where United failed, there wasn't a spell anywhere during the match where United took the game by the scruff of the neck and pushed Telford back, the formation appeared to be 4-4-2 with Kyd having an ineffective match in what seemed to be a position in midfield, just behind Butler and Benjamin.

None of the side had a particularly good game although Martin Butler stood out with his tireless running, but he showed his frustration several times at his team mates as the ball was given away needlessly in midfield, or as in many occasions, when he found himself a loan figure up front with Benjamin having drifted out wide on the left.

The breakthrough came after 22 mins of fairly drab football where United managed to force two corners in quick succession, the second resulted in Benjamin rising above the Telford defence to nod home unchallenged. A couple of minutes after that Butler had a shot well saved by the Telford keeper as they swept forward out of defence via Duncan, Russell and Benjamin who nodded on to Butler. The resulting corner saw Benjamin head just over and it looked as if United had stepped up a gear at last.

Unfortunately for the frustrated traveling fans that was about it from the U's for the rest of the half and it was Telford who started to gain a bit of confidence and put the United defence under pressure for the first time in the game. Indeed they had two good chances to score themselves when the United defence were caught out in a manner which is now becoming familiar, a deep ball from midfield over the top of the advancing United defence, the first Campbell allowed to bounce in front of him and Norbury snatched it from under his nose, then raced into the area but was caught in two minds as to what to do, eventually scuffing his shot wide as Marshall came out to narrow the angle.

A few minutes later a similar ball caught Chenery out of position and the ball was played across the box to the Telford number 10 who made a complete hash of a first time shot with only Marshall to beat, the shot being sliced well wide. Half time was a thankful event for the United fans who had spent much of the game so far talking amongst themselves or queueing up for food and hot drinks in the chilly rain.

The second half wasn't much better than the first with the drizzle and poor floodlighting making things difficult to see which was probably a blessing as United continued to look as inept as Telford.

Telford started the half more strongly and for the first ten minutes took the game to United but never really tested either the defence or Marshall although they did manage a couple of corners, one of which was so badly hit that it only bounced once before going out for a throw in near the half way line! Then Butler provided the first piece of quality in the game, running on to a through ball from Russell and hitting a hard low shot into the corner of the net to finish the game after 66 mins.

Taylor came on for the completely ineffectual Kyd and United finished quite strongly, particularly in the last ten minutes where both Butler and Benjamin came close to adding another goal, but even that spell left the fans feeling that the U's had at least another gear in reserve, Benjamin in particular looked very tired and out of sorts.

A good result in the end from a potentially difficult tie, although Uniteds' performance and the game overall were far from memorable from both sides point of view. Telford were very poor indeed and had the U's been on their game would have probably folded early on.

It was a little worrying to see most of the team put in a below par performance and we seemed to pick up where we left of a Peterboring as far as midfield was concerned. All too often the ball was given away or aimlessly kicked into a space where no United player was near. Wanless seemed to be a yard short of everything and Russell, whom most of Uniteds attacks stem from never really got going.

We need to shake off this lethargy quickly and get back into the form that has seen us play some great football in recent weeks. Darlington at home next week will provide a much stiffer test and the U's need to show the urgency that has been lacking in the games at London Road and here today at Telford.

Uninspired football lacking motivation, creation or ambition dominated this dithering excuse for a competitive football match. Cambridge United sealed their place in the next round thanks mainly to the opposing ability of the two team's front lines. Telford watched, helpless as the most potent strike force in the lower leagues buried their hopes of an upset, whilst their own front line wasted some clear cut opportunities to make a game of it.

It was a dull lifeless encounter played in torrential rain, cold winds and under a dark grey sky. Not the best conditions to inspire any football match, and inspirational might perhaps be the last descriptive word in the English language I would use when discussing this victory.

As early as the fifth minute Telford could have found themselves in the lead as Scott Huckerby hit a poor shot into the path of former U's hit man Mickey Norbury whose snap shot went wide of the far post. United then began to take the game into the Telford half and started to look the most dangerous of the two teams. Ben Chenery ventured forward into the box on 11 minutes only to delay his final pass to Butler meaning United leading marksman's fine finish was irrelevant due to the offside flag.

Alex Russell then began to impose himself on the game, as he strolled through the Telford middlemen to present Trevor Benjamin with two opportunities to shoot on 13 and 15 minutes respectively. Both were blocked by a sharp Telford defence who gave the United forwards little time or space for much of the first period.

At the other end Telford began struggling to create any opportunities, meaning that possession and the game as a whole was being played at the pace United wanted. On 22 minutes Trevor Benjamin rose well in the middle of the box to flash a header from an Alex Russell corner into the back of the net to give United the lead.

From then on in the half, it was Telford who looked the most dangerous of the two teams. They appeared to discover United's weakness seems to be lofted balls over the defence from midfield, and on 26 minutes they should have pulled themselves level. Mick Norbury took advantage of a rare mistake from centre-back Andy Duncan to find himself bearing down on Marshall. He chipped the ball over the advancing keeper only to see the ball fly two feet wide of the post much to the relief of the 500 or so United fans behind the goal.

Perhaps their best opportunity of the game however fell to Scott Huckerby who after poor marking from Campbell had time and space to bury the ball into any part of the gaping United goal. Instead however he highlighted exactly why Telford are struggling in the bottom half of the Football Conference as he stabbed a poor shot wide of the near post to frustrate the few thousand home supporters.

These two late escapes for United should have served as a reminder to the team that the tie was far from won, and that a much higher level of work-rate and passion was going to be necessary to prevent Telford pulling themselves back into the game. Unfortunately though United appeared to rest on their league-status laurels far too often and didn't even manage to muster an attempt on goal until the 15th minute of the second half.

We were defending far too deep, and failing to inject any degree of creation or motivation when launching counter attacks, which often faded out dismally once the rather lack lustre Benjamin got anywhere near the ball. Ian Ashbee was constantly out-jumped and outfought in the midfield as Telford began to believe the game was there for the taking. McNeil at the back was looking worryingly uncertain at times and struggled to get to grips with the busy Huckerby who had two shots in the early stages of the second half which on another day could have flew in.

Martin Butler was found in the box on 59 minutes from a Trevor Benjamin cross but the ball came to him at an awkward height and he volleyed the ball over. Then came the moment from which United would never look back. After winning a rare ball in midfield Ian Ashbee delivered a wonderful through ball to Butler who took the ball into the box before delivering a cool finish to put the contest beyond any doubt.

From that point on United began to cruise, something that perhaps they were a little guilty of doing for most of the afternoon. John Taylor replaced the ineffective and confidence starved Kyd on the hour mark, and was guilty on a number of occasions of giving away cheap possession in midfield. Overall though it is the result that matters most on these occasions, and as little enthusiasm could be drawn from the performance this is perhaps a good thing. Telford were not a terrible side, but were a side which could and should have been torn to shreds by a United team capable of much better entertaining football.

Like a untrained rally driver they roared along in third for most of the game, apparently unaware that their five speed gear box had the capability to leave Telford a mile behind scrapping for consolation and reward for commitment, rather than the replay they might consider themselves unlucky not to have achieved.

In reality though it was not luck that sent Cambridge through, it was the opposing level of finishing displayed by both teams. Despite having a rather ineffective and disappointing game Trevor showed the killer instinct lacking in the rather unimaginative Norbury. Martin Butler's work rate was as always outstanding, as despite being knocked off the ball a bit easily a few times, took his goal very well to notch up his 11th of the season.

Shaun Marshall had little to do in goal for much of the game, and his main task seemed to be as a spectator to the poor level of finishing displayed by the Telford team. A fine result against a side with a history of upsets in this competition. I always felt that if necessary United could have cranked it up a gear, yet in reality most, if not all the United players gave very average performances that were still enough to dispatch a hard working but visibly sub standard opposition.

There was one change to the starting line-up today, with Michael Kyd replacing John Taylor. Trevor Benjamin recovered sufficiently from a bout of tonsillitis to keep his place, and Arjan Van Heusden was a surprise face among the substitutes. The giant Dutch goalkeeper returned to training this week after breaking his hand against Brighton five weeks ago.

Telford include former U's Neil Lyne, who plays at wing-back for the Lilywhites, and Mickey Norbury who plays up front alongside Scott Huckerby, elder brother of Coventry star Darren.

The game kicked off under a grey sky with a slight drizzle, and United got off to a slightly nervous start. Telford had an early chance when, in the sixth minute, Doyle's long ball hit Huckerby but he couldn't quite bring the ball under control. In the ninth minute United's first chance came from a Jamie Campbell cross, but Martin Butler failed to connect and Michael Kyd could not quite direct his header goalwards. A minute later came the unlikely sight of Ben Chenery bursting through the centre, he slipped the ball to Butler who beat the keeper, but the flag was up for offside.

United looked under par as they had in the first half on Tuesday, often giving away possession cheaply, but after a spell of better play the U's opened the scoring in the 22nd minute. It was a textbook goal - Alex Russell took a corner kick and picked out Trevor Benjamin who headed home. He has now scored in each of the last five games and reaches double figures for the season. A few minutes later a Benjamin header set up Martin Butler but his shot was well-saved by Dean Williams.

Telford were far from buried and fought back to create a couple of scoring chance before half-time, while United were restriced to a few half-chances. On 32 minutes Mick Norbury collected a ball that bounced over Andy Duncan, but young keeper Shaun Marshall stood up well and Norbury sliced his shot wide. After 40 minutes Scott Huckerby got on the end of a good through ball but also sliced his chance wide.

Then on 42 minutes Norbury lashed the ball out of play and into the home spectators, but unfortunately hit an elderly female supporter in the face and after attention from stewards and paramedics she was taken to hospital. (Half-time 1-0)

The early exchanges of the second half resembled the first, with United on the defensive for long periods and looking fragile at times while doing just enough to stay ahead. After 51 minutes McNeil's head fell kindly for Huckerby and the striker tried to lob Marshall who was off his line, but the ball floated over the bar. Then on 59 minutes after a Telford free-kick, Jamie Campbell headed bravely over his own bar under pressure from Palmer and both players required some treatment.

John Taylor replaced the subdued Michael Kyd on the hour, then in the 66th minute United extended the lead with a well-taken Martin Butler goal. Ian Ashbee robbed Palmer on the half-way line and split the defence with a great ball to Butler, who controlled the ball with his first touch and scored with his second, beating the keeper with a low, angled drive.

After that United killed the game off, holding on to the ball and looking very professional. We might even have scored a third in the last ten minutes as Benjamin and Butler both went close. The U's never really got into top gear throughout the match but the main difference between the sides was the finishing, with United scoring two of probably three chances while Telford blasted theirs high or wide and never troubled Shaun Marshall.

Mark Johnson's Man of the Match: Andy Duncan - "a rock at the heart of the defence".