ANY Cambridge United traditionalists still struggling to see a fixture with Leyton Orient as a derby clash must have had their doubts blown away by this bruising battle. The bitter rivalry may have a lot more to do with personalities than geography, but Saturday's uncompromising encounter was as keenly fought as any match against old enemies Peterborough.

Consequently, it was not a pretty sight. A scrappy scuffle chopped to pieces by the continual fouls and free kicks -- 19 in the first 20 minutes. As match-winner Jamie Campbell said, it was time for United to stand up and be counted after two dismal home defeats. And referee Mark Warren did some of the addition as he totted up half a dozen bookings for the fired-up men in black and amber.

They had an unlikely defender, however, in Orient's ex-United player Matt Joseph who said: "It was a hard game, but it wasn't vicious. The bookings came from players going into tackles, and you are going to mistime some."

It was also an absorbing game for those who could appreciate a trial of strength and will without yearning too much for flowing football. But United can claim the winning goal seven minutes into the second half was created by the best move of the match.

John Taylor linked with Alex Russell in a right flank breakaway, the midfielder finding Martin Butler, who slipped the ball towards the far post where Trevor Benjamin was powering in. The young striker got the ball caught between his feet, but scrambled a shot against a defender then hit the rebound against the post. The ball bounced back to Butler,, who should have buried it, but instead hit defender Martin Ling on the goal line. That produced the corner from which Campbell broke the deadlock.

"I was in the right place at the right time," he said, "but it was the overall performance which pleased me more. We let our supporters down over the last couple of weeks and we were determined to show them we really care about the club.

"We created more chances than Orient and defended better than they did. Our centre halves dealt with their big striker and Arjan in goal showed what he can do. It does take a bit of time to get that understanding between a back four and a keeper."

Mystifyingly, but predictably, the Orient camp saw a different match. "I thought we were the better team," said manager Tommy Taylor. "We had the best of the early part of the game. Cambridge only had three corners in the first half which we dealt with. They just caught us in a bit of a panic at the start of the second. It wasn't our day. It didn't quite fall for us in the box."

That had something to do with the United defence snuffing out the Londoners' attack and maybe confirming the quality of defending north of the border -- where Orient's Dundee loanee Steve McCormick scored 59 goals in 159 games -- leaves a little to be desired.

Orient did look sharper in the opening 20 minutes, and Carl Griffiths was only inches wide with an 11th minute shot. But they had to wait until the 80th for their next half-chance when David Morrison, in a good position 10 yards out, made a complete hash of controlling a right wing cross.

United, physically much stronger with Taylor, Benjamin and Neil Mustoe in for David Preece and rookies Tom Youngs and Adam Wilde, held firm in the first quarter of the game and started to worry Orient with Mustoe and Benjamin linking on the left. In the second half the threat switched to their other flank with Taylor and Alex Russell finding the openings.

Benjamin and Butler let goalkeeper Chris MacKenzie off the hook by firing wide in the first half, but he had to make a brilliant finger-tip save to deflect Russell's rising drive over the bar seven minutes from time. When centre-back Simon Clark was stretchered off with a gashed ankle 20 minutes from time Taylor also withdrew his other centre-back and went on all-out attack.

And with a daunting Worthington Cup trip to Premiership Sheffield Wednesday this week the cool and competent way his defence dealt with that challenge, after shipping six goals in the previous two games, was probably the most satisfying aspect of the day for manager Roy McFarland.

Four defeats in the last 5 games meant a poor turnout by U's fans, it was a good job there was a reasonable number from East London. Mustoe started the game at number 3, Taylor at 8 and Benjamin at 10.

The first real cheer came after 7 minutes when Van Heusden claimed a cross around the penalty spot. A few minutes later Russell was booked for nothing sort of tackle, what would turn out to be the first of many! Wanless had our first shot on target after 12 minutes, a long range looping shot that was saved easily. 2 minutes later Wanless was blocked in their penalty area as he went for the ball, but no penalty. On 20 minutes Wanless was booked. Soon after we got our first free kick, Benjamin being pushed off the ball as he beat the player.

On 26 minutes we had a good passing move which gave Butler a chance, but he shot well wide. Benjamin almost scored when he chased down a poor back pass, and Duncan had a good shot charged down.

Butler had been fouled on a number of occasions, eventually their number 3 was booked. Benjamin was getting in some good crosses, and also shot wide when a defender slipped and left him with a good chance. Orient used the long ball to their beanpole striker, both Joseph and Duncan had some difficulty dealing with him, their best scoring chance of the half coming from a knock down and a quick shot on the turn from the number 9 went a yard past the post. Matt Joseph (now shaven headed) was causing Campbell occasional problems, but apart from that there was little to trouble the defence.

Orient almost scored early in the second half with a deflected shot that was scrambled away at the base of the post. Mustoe was booked seemingly for trying to take a shot, Chenery had a good shot go just past the post, and Wanless got kicked late in the stomach but no booking for the Orient player.

A good move between Taylor and Russell gave Butler a chance, he chose to pass square to Benjamin whose shot was saved the rebound from Butler hit the post and was eventually cleared. We scored from a low misshit corner which went through a couple of pairs of legs to Campbell, he shot and the ball went into the corner of the net for 1-0.

From a long throw Taylor supposedly fouled their 'keeper when surrounded by 2 defenders. On 57 minutes Duncan was booked, soon after Benjamin was booked too apparently for sticking out his foot to block a clearance and letting the defender kick his studs. The Orient players tactic was to fall under any challenge to get a free kick, which worked quite well for them with this Ref. One time two of their players went down in our area, which caused the referee to stop the game for them to get treatment despite us having a good break, even then they contested the drop-ball.

Taylor had a shot just past, then Russell had a goal bound shot just tipped over. On 87 minutes Youngs came on for Benjamin. Taylor got booked on 94 minutes for not retreating 10 yards. A miss-hit cross almost caught out Van Heusden but he tipped the ball over.

A deserved win that should have been by more goals. In general the defence looked much more solid from open play as well as set pieces. Russell looked good in the middle of midfield and gets my MoM, Mustoe and Wanless did a lot of running and put themselves about well. Taylor had a quiet first half, but came into the game more in the second, especially helping the younger players. Butler caused problems as did Benjamin, but all three forwards missed good chances. Fright of shooting seems to be the problem as too often an extra pass was used when a shot was on.

The referee had a poor game, the bookings total does not reflect a dirty game. He seemed to want to book our players for good tackles, yet let them off. I'm surprised he didn't find something to give them a penalty for!

Ratings: Van Heusden 6, Chenery 7, Mustoe 7, Duncan 6, Joseph 6, Campbell 6, Wanless 6, Taylor 6, Butler 7, Benjamin 7 (Youngs 6), Russell 8

After reading the programme notes and discovering that the match referee was a reserve official at the World Cup I was confident that the abysmal standard of officiating we have experienced in our last few games would not have been present. In fact, the referee was one of the worst I have ever seen and it is a minor miracle that Cambridge United managed to scramble their way through his diabolical 90 minutes of biased, unprofessional and naive refereeing with all three points.

It seemed in the first half Mr Warren had mistaken his aspirin for viagra, and it lead to him becoming over excited. On each and every occasion an Orient player went to ground he gave the free kick, and missed their number 10 spitting in the face of Mark Joseph right in front of him. Most refs. have a bad half-hour, or make a bad decision but this ref was a total disgrace. The six yellow cards he showed United players could have serious affects later on in the season, when we lose those players due to suspension.

Anyway, back to the match. Cambridge and Orient both started slowly, with most of the enthusiasm and passion coming from the terraces. Martin Butler was looking effective up front, with Trevor Benjamin making some decent runs down the left-hand flank. We lacked the creative invention to make any clear cut goal scoring chances in the first half, the best effort coming from Andy Duncan but his powerful shot from the edge of the box was cleared before it troubled the keeper.

The second half however was a different story all together. John Taylor showed glimpses of his ability to frighten defences with his neat and penetrative attack play. Along with Neil Mustoe's superb performance and Trevor Benjamin frightening the life out of the Orient defence Cambridge United collectively combined to warm the hearts of those fearing the worst after two successive home defeats.

Just before the only goal of the game, Trevor Benjamin and most of the United team had the chance to put us ahead. After a good save from Benjamin, hitting the post and two goal line clearances the ball was cleared to relative safety by a Orient defender.

No fewer than two mins later we were celebrating the winning goal. After a flick on from a corner Jamie Campbell fired the ball home low to the bottom right hand post and sent the United fans into delirium. This should have been followed up with more goals, as Orient outlined that their defence is a poor and weak as a Barry Hearn boxer. Martin Butler was terrorising three different colours out of the Orient team, and Alex Russell put in another masterful performance to confirm that not only is he an adequate replacement for Beall, but he is simply better. This made the victory even sweeter, as not at one point on the game did we look like we missed him. Orient on the other hand lacked all the things we possessed and look a team who will struggle to feature in anything other than midtable mediocrity this season, or perhaps a relegation dogfight.

United on the other hand have restarted their stop-start season of victories and defeats, and once again have confirmed that on their day they are a class team with class players. It's just sad that 'their day' only comes half the time.

The morning rain gave way to weak sunshine in Cambridge before kick-off, and United supporters were hoping for a similar end to the defensive errors that had seen the U's concede six in the last two games. Roy McFarland made three changes to the team beaten at Scunthorpe on Tuesday night with midfielder Neil Mustoe replacing David Preece after the veteran player-coach had started three consecutive games. In attack he brought in the experience of John Taylor - his first start of this season - and the power and pace of Trevor Benjamin, while the 19-year-olds Tom Youngs and Adam Wilde stepped down.

For the visitors, who arrived at The Abbey unbeaten on their travels this season, former United manager Tommy Taylor included new loan signing Steve McCormick whose height was expected to cause a few flutters in the home defence. Former U's skipper Matthew Joseph started the game while Robbie Reinelt, who had a trial spell at United at the end of last season, was on the Orient bench.

The visitors brought over 1,000 fans with them and treated them to a good start as they brought plenty of early pressure to bear without ever really threatening too much. Under-pressure 'keeper Arjan Van Heusden took his first catch cleanly, to ironic cheers from his own supporters after recent performances, and that set the tone for his reassuringly sound performance. He took his catches cleanly, made a couple of good saves and most importantly the big Dutchman looked confident.

Orient's Carl Griffiths hit the side-netting in the 12th minute but after that United came into their own. Three minutes later Trevor Benjamin beat his full-back and put over a great cross which Paul Wanless was always going to meet until he was pushed. United's skipper is not known for complaints to the officials but his appeals to the referee were unusually vehement as we were denied a clear penalty.

This was a bruising, niggling match throughout, as you would expect from the recent history between these two clubs, and United's players could not be accused of a lack of passion. They put in a committed display and in the process collected six yellow cards from World Cup Final linesman Mark Warren - five for mainly mis-timed tackles and one for John Taylor not retreating for a free kick two minutes into stoppage time. Orient's players seemed to go to ground after every challenge and Mr Warren infuriated the home crowd by awarding free kicks and brandishing the yellow card at United players. The first half petered out with no other note-worthy chances apart from a Martin Butler shot which was wide. Half-time 0-0.

The start of the second half mirrored the first with Orient giving us an early scare before United settled and put the visitors under pressure. On 49 minutes a shot from the much improved Ben Chenery curled just past the post and then on 52 minutes Jamie Campbell (right) pounced to put United into the lead.

The rare flowing move move began when Martin Butler found Trevor Benjamin but the big teenager's shot was blocked by the goalkeeper's feet. Benjamin reacted quickly to strike the rebound with his other foot but smacked the ball against the post, then it bounced back to Butler whose goal-bound effort was cleared off the line by Martin Ling. Orient seemed to have escaped but the clearance went behind for a corner, Alex Russell swung the ball over, it bounced off a melee of players to Jamie Campbell on the edge of the area and the defender swept the ball home for his second goal of the season.

United then went on to win fairly comfortably - although the introduction of Reinelt with half an hour left gave Orient a boost - and reporter Mark Johnson singled out Andy Duncan for praise. The former Manchester United reserve had a very good game at the heart of United's defence, former Old Trafford team-mate Neil Mustoe caught the eye on only his second League start, while a good team effort confined Orient mainly to the middle third of the pitch and restricted their forays into the danger area.

After 79 minutes John Taylor twisted and turned to make an opening for himself only to send his shot inches wide, and a minute later Orient managed a rare chance when a cross found substitute David Morrison in space but he failed to bring the ball under control to make a shot. In the 83rd minute United went very close to extending the lead when Alex Russell made a brilliant turn and his shot was curling into the top corner until MacKenzie did well to tip it over.

Tom Youngs replaced Trevor Benjamin with three minutes left on the clock, and as the fourth official held up a board indicating five minutes of added time Orient launched their final charge. It was largely desperate attacking and United's defence held firm, and eventually the referee played less than four minutes before sending the home fans away happy.

This was not a vintage performance but it was much improved and restores a little pride and confidence ahead of Wednesday's trip to Sheffield Wednesday. The slippery conditions and Mr Warren's handling of the game did not contribute to the spectacle, either.

Elsewhere local rivals Peterborough United were held 1-1 at bottom club Shrewsbury, bringing them down to earth after their 9-1 romp against nine-man Barnet last weekend. Next week's Worthington Cup opponents, Sheffield Wednesday, disposed of Blackburn with an ominous 3-0 win.