RANDALL BUTT reports from the Abbey Stadium on a day when a long-standing United record was broken.

RECORD-BREAKER John Taylor demonstrated two of the vital qualities of a great goalscorer -- timing and persistence. There could have been few better matches or moments for him to become Cambridge United's goals king than the day after the fans hailed him "Legend of the Abbey," and a minute before the end of a tough first half.

Less experienced strikers may have withdrawn into their shells by then after missing the target three times. But he kept at it and was perfectly placed to put away his historic goal. No 82 in a United shirt overhauled Alan Biley's long-standing record as well as giving his side an important psychological boost at the end of a difficult half in which Plymouth Argyle were often in control of the game.

"I should have got the goal before then," he said. "Neil Mustoe set up a very good chance in the first minute. And, as a team, we ought to have had more in the second half. It's great to have broken the record, but it was never really on my mind. As the game wore on what I was really thinking was 'I hope they don't snatch an equaliser.'

"We weren't quite positive enough in front of goal despite running the game in the second half, and the tension was creeping in towards the end."

The 34-year-old player/coach and reserve team manager was supposed to be a back-up player this season, but just as remarkable as his record haul is that eight of the goals have come in the last 12 matches.

One supporter was quoted in the match programme as wondering: "Is John Taylor defying science and getting younger?" A reasonable question, it seemed, as he more than matched the contributions of much younger partners Martin Butler and Trevor Benjamin.

They might have benefitted in fact from the stimulus of being replaced during the last quarter of the game by new-loan player Richard Walker. But managers are notoriously superstitious about tampering when their team is in the lead, and the Aston Villa youngster, signed on the morning of the match, remained on the bench.

What probably made it harder for United's strikers after the break was the red card for Argyle midfielder Ronnie Mauge in injury time at the end of the first half. With a full side the West Countrymen were competing successfully in an evenly-fought first period, despite never really worrying goalkeeper Shaun Marshall.

A man down they were less adventurous, presenting United with a more solid defence, well-marshalled by an old Abbey hero, Mick Heathcote. And when he and his defenders were beaten, another "old boy," goalkeeper Jonathan Sheffield, brought back memories of some fine displays between the posts (after which he was invariably criticised by manager John Beck for the quality of his kicking!)

But, despite finishing without the three or four goals, their overall dominance in the second half might have produced, it was a display to confirm Roy McFarland's men as much more likely promotion contenders than Argyle. Marc Joseph returned from injury to renew his impressive centre-back partnership with Andy Duncan which restricted the visitors to just one real chance. And that was snuffed out by Marshall who raced out to smother the ball at the feet of Earl Jean 11 minutes from time.

Neil Mustoe, also back from injury, added some extra movement to midfield, helping Alex Russell create opportunities to entertain possibly the biggest home following of the season for a League game, and on a Saturday notorious for the counter-attraction of Christmas shopping.

The second goal just would not come, though. Taylor forced a blinding save from Sheffield in the 50th minute and rammed a header against the crossbar in the 69th. The keeper dived bravely at Benjamin's feet on the hour, then watched the teenager's 20-yarder whistle past the post six minutes later.

"I thought we could have got something out of the game," said Plymouth boss Kevin Hodges.

Somebody should remind him Christmas Day is not until the 25th of the month.

Argyle's worrying slide down the third division continued on Saturday as they slipped to their fifth successive league defeat. As recently as November 3, after their resounding 3-0 home win over Brentford, the Pilgrims were one of five joint leaders.

Now, six weeks later, they are 13th in the league table and six points outside the play-off places. It is not too late for them to bridge that gap and their next three games - against Carlisle United, Barnet and Exeter City - are all against teams who are below them in the table.

But unless the Pilgrims can add reinforcements, either players recovering from injury or new signings, then it is hard to see them reversing their fortunes. The return of Simon Collins, Richard Flash, Paul Gibbs, Chris Hargreaves and Steve McCall cannot come soon enough. They all featured in the team that started the season so well and were winning away games with relative ease.

In recent months, however, Argyle manager Kevin Hodges has had to throw in untried youngsters in their absence and they have done their best. But it is asking too much of them to keep the Pilgrims in the promotion picture when so many of the senior professionals are on the sidelines. A new signing - or two - would not only add to Hodges’options but lift morale among the players, who must wonder what they have done to deserve such misfortune with injuries this season.

But, equally, there is no point in the manager bringing new faces to Home Park just for the sake of it. They have to be good enough to make a noticeable difference. A prolific striker is the most pressing need but virtually every club in the country is on the lookout for a potent goalscorer and they are not easy to come across, especially when your budget restricts you to the bargain basement department, rather than luxury goods.

Goalscoring is proving a major problem. Sean McCarthy, who was serving a one-match suspension on Saturday, and Martin Barlow top the charts with a meagre four each. It is not that chances are being squandered but the fact that so few openings are being made. Cambridge goalkeeper Shaun Marshall was only called into serious action on two occasions. One of the saves was fairly straightforward, although he needed a second attempt before holding onto Barlow’s 25-yard strike.

The second was much more impressive when he prevented Earl Jean from grabbing an equaliser in the 76th minute. The St Lucian international striker found space for himself inside the penalty area but Marshall was quickly off his line to make an important save. Argyle would have been highly satisfied to have come away from the Abbey Stadium with a point, especially after the dismissal of midfielder Ronnie Maugé just before the break. But, in all honesty, had it not been for an excellent performance from goalkeeper Jon Sheffield, and some poor finishing from the Cambridge forwards, then the visitors could easily have been trounced.

Veteran marksman John Taylor, now 34 and United's reserve team coach, should have been celebrating a hat-trick before he finally opened his account with the game's only goal in the 44th minute. Sheffield made a superb save from Paul Wanless' close range header but the ball bounced invitingly for Taylor, who applied the finishing touch. The goal had special significance for him because it was his 82nd for the club, which set a new record, beating the previous best of Alan Biley.

Maugé's dismissal shortly afterwards forced Hodges into a half-time reshuffle with striker Dwight Marshall making way for 16-year-old midfielder Darren Bastow, who had started the previous three games. Bastow had little chance to push forward, however, as 10-man Argyle were forced onto the defensive. Cambridge launched a wave of attacks and Sheffield made good saves from Taylor - twice - Martin Butler, Trevor Benjamin and Neil Mustoe.

Sheffield, playing against one of his former clubs, deserved his moment of good fortune in the 69th minute when Taylor thumped a header against the underside of the crossbar from an Alex Russell corner. The ball bounced down, hit the foot of Benjamin and rolled into the arms of the Pilgrims' goalkeeper. Wanless then volleyed wildly over the bar from eight yards before Sheffield pulled off a point-blank save from Russell's header.

If ever a script in a football match was followed, it was on Saturday. John Taylor was crowned the fans 'King of the Abbey' before the match, and duly delivered the knock out punch to propel Cambridge United back into the top five, and himself to the mantle of being the greatest goal-scorer in the history of the football club.

Last week's shambles of a performance at Macclesfield was swept from memory by this neat, organised and competitive team performance. The passion and commitment was there for all to see, a perfect example that this teams possess exactly what we need to get out of this Division - the guts, the glory and the ability necessary to win the match.

The game began at lightning pace, with United having three glorious chances within the opening ten minutes. John Taylor was fed a fine ball by Neil Mustoe just two minutes after the kick off, but delivered a shot that scraped across the face of goal failing to test Argyle goalkeeper Jon Sheffield. One minute later a fine cross from Marc Joseph fell to Benjamin at the far post who powered the ball home into the roof of the net. The confidence starved centre forward's 'goal' though was ruled out by the linesman's flag.

Then on 10 minutes Taylor had another chance to put United in front, but with the Plymouth defence closing, scooped the ball over the goal, and out of the stadium. United were looking likely to create chances ever time they ventured forward, with both Campbell and Chennery pushing up to add options to the impressive attack play.

At the back the reunited partnership between Joseph and Duncan was serving to shut out any rare Plymouth attacks, and was successful in preventing a shot on target until 27 minuets into the half when Martin Barlow watched his attempt from outside the area comfortably dealt with by Shaun Marshall in the United goal. Indeed Plymouth found it very hard to assert any real pressure on the United goal for any period in the game as we were simply too strong in defence. The first clean sheet in the league for six matches, during all of which we have missed Marc Joseph who did a superb job at the back to stifle the Plymouth front line.

Marshall was worryingly uneasy with the ball at his feet though, and on 29 minutes miss-controlled and hit his clearance into Philips, but luckily the ball broke to a yellow shirt which was able to clear the danger. From the resulting attack, John Taylor rose majestically to meet a Mustoe cross and beat Sheffield to the ball only to see his attempt whistle inches over the top of the bar. The game then lapsed into a ten-minute spell where neither team created any clear-cut goal-scoring chances. The visitors began to play at a mind-numbingly slow and laboured pace, wasting time at every opportunity. They then started to find some joy down the right flank but some, at times, neat approach play went unrewarded as they failed to bypass the final defender. During this spell Plymouth had Maunge booked for kicking the ball away, an action he would regret immensely before half time.

The 44th minute contrived to produce a magical moment in history and a goal that will etch the name of John Taylor once again into the Cambridge United record books. Paul Wanless had a fine header acrobatically saved by Jon Sheffield only for him to see the tall frame of Taylor pounce on the rebound to head powerfully home for his 8th goal of the season. It was not however that statistic which was on the minds of the United fans who were aware that that goal, his 82nd for United, made him the leading goalscorer of all time.

A minute later the joy of taking the lead was compounded when after a wicked tackle on Russell, Mauge was shown the red card for his second bookable offence, reducing the struggling visitors to ten men just before the half time whistle.

The second period was a rather one-sided affair, but for five minutes at either end. Plymouth began the half brightly forcing a succession of corners, and sent the large frame of Mick Heathcoat forward to add dimension to their options. They could not maintain this pressure though, and fell away as the United team began to exploit the space in front of them. Playing against 10 men when you are level or behind can at times be very frustrating, but when you are in the lead the opposition are more than aware that any degree of attacking commitment is going to leave gaps at the back. Fortunately for Plymouth Jon Sheffield and his defence had accomplished games to prevent United running up the cricket score they could have done. Perhaps though this was down to wayward finishing on our part as much as anything else.

Following a poor shot from Duncan on 53 minutes which failed even to go out of play, a neat cross from Russell found Taylor in the box but he was foiled by Sheffield who saved well at his near post. Sheffield's kicking left a lot to be desired on the whole as he failed to find accuracy or range giving the United front men things to feed off.

Paul Wanless found himself with some glorious second half opportunities to put the game beyond Plymouth, but on both occasions blazed shots over and wide respectively. Strong penalty appeals were waved away in the 60th minute as Martin Butler appeared to be manhandled to the ground. At the other end it looked as though Plymouth might be given an unexpected life line as Bastow palmed the ball into the path of Marshall but his namesake in the United goal foiled his low shot with a fine one handed save.

John Taylor then found himself with another fine opportunity to ease United to victory. Bearing down on Sheffield with the defence closing in, the man of steel once again foiled him. Trevor Benjamin a minute later managed to beat the inspired keeper with a low shot, but missed the post by inches and watched the ball run out for a goal kick.

On 71 minutes Taylor yet again was left holding his head, as he contemplated his 70th minute header rebounding off the underside of the crossbar into the hands of Sheffield laying on the goal-line. Shortly after this near miss, Plymouth thought they had scored the equaliser. A fine cross to the far post evaded the hands of Marshall and was headed along the goal line by Lee Philips but despite a sliced clearance by Campbell, United eventually managed to clear the danger.

The final few minutes were, as ever, a slightly tentative affair. One shocking piece of refereeing had manager Roy McFarland almost on the pitch, and nearly 20 yards from his dugout. The linesman raised his flag to indicate offside after a Plymouth cross, yet the referee who on many occasions during the match failed to notice when his officials gave decisions, waved play on and awarded Plymouth a corner. The linesman continued to keep his flag raised, and when noticed by the referee was given the 'thumbs up' and told to take his flag down and he had decided to overrule his decision.

Marshall and Campbell appeared to have let misunderstanding get the better of them on 87 minutes before the young keeper took the initiative to boot the ball out of play just before Phillip got a boot in. Alex Russell thought he had settled the nerves of the United crowd, an impressive 3,933 due to the 'Quid a Kid' scheme, yet saw his acrobatic headed attempt palmed to safety in the final minute.

This was to be the last chance of the game, as the final whistle was blown to ensure this vital victory and three points were in the bag. A very good team performance during which is was nice to see both Benjamin and Wanless have much better games than of late. The return of Mustoe and Joseph were welcome, as they slotted back neatly into the team to produce accomplished performances.

On a weekend when most of our rivals won, these points were made even more vital. Last month we owed every single league point we collected to one man's goals, and the month of December has begun in the same fashion. This tireless 'Peter Pan' of Cambridge United, this evergreen product of self belief and passion, this king of Cambridge and master of the Abbey has struck again, on a day that was destined to be his from the moment he got out of bed.

Will Jones

My wife won £100 on the premium bonds this morning, so I knew there would be no chance of winning anything in the Supporters Club draw, even with Dave Brown swapping a third of the tickets. The Supporters Club always seems very humid, as soon as you walk through the door you start to sweat. Of course it could be the adrenalin rush of excitement!

Note of trivia: The first 3 names on the Plymouth teamsheet were all "Jon". In my day the name was spelt John! One of the Jon's was Sheffield in goal. Micky Heathcote was also playing for them. Our team saw the return of Marc Joseph in defence, Mustoe in midfield instead of Ashbee who was on the bench with Preece and Richard Walker, the loanee from Villa.

We started well, attacking the Abbey, and in the first minute Shaggy shot across the goal after a good passing move from Russell and Mustoe. A minute later as Joseph was walking across to take a long throw, the throw was taken quickly to him, he crossed to the far post where Benjamin headed in powerfully from 6 yards. Unfortunately the linesman had his flag up for offside, a decision which seemed slightly dubious as there were plenty of defenders back for the throw.

On 4 minutes a long throw was partially cleared to Shaggy, who shot over. Soon after we broke quickly from defence with Russell, his shot was blocked and from the follow up Campbell shot over. Although we were in control, we did allow Plymouth a long range shot on 9 minutes, which was deflected for a corner. From one of our corners the ball seemed to get stuck in amongst a bunch of legs on their 6 yard line, when the ball finally popped out Russell shot over.

Wanless had a header from a corner go just over, another short throw to Joseph resulted in a good cross to the far post where Shaggy put the ball just over the bar when the cross was missed by Sheffield. Their #8 was booked for kicking the ball away after conceding a free kick, Mustoe was booked for a late challenge. Shaggy was showing some deft touches and twists, and was taken down as he turned by their #4 who got booked.

Shaggy missed another good chance by heading over after a cross was headed back by Benjamin. Finally Shaggy scored 2 minutes from half time, a powerful header by Wanless was parried on the line by Sheffield, and Shaggy nodded it in from all of 18 inches to give him the all time scoring record. There was still enough time left for #8 to do a late tackle on Russell, which being the second booking meant he was sent off.

Early in the second half Sheffield got himself booked for dissent I think. He was trying to prevent the ball going out for a corner and in disgust when the linesmans gave the corner, threw the ball down at the ground where it bounced away! We continued making lots of chances. Shaggy had a close shot well saved, A low hard cross by Mustoe was just out of the reach of any forwards, Benjamin had a long shot go over, then Sheffield saved well at his feet when he beat Heathcote to a through ball, then Benjamin had a lot of time to shoot but put the ball past the far post, Butler had a shot on the turn saved, Shaggy shot over when well placed to score, another Benjamin shot was half saved then cleared by a defender, Mustoe had a shot saved for a corner from which a Shaggy header hit the bar and rebounded out to be saved on the goalline.

Marshall had little to do, but did manage to miss a cross but was saved because there were plenty of defenders around for few attackers. He also had a problem when a back pass came to his left side which resulted in a bit of panic but he mangaged to clear the ball.

Plymouth made a chance, but Marshall saved the shot with his legs. More chances were missed by us, Wanless shot past, a Butler run and shot was charged down, Wanless shot over after a cross was headed down by Benjamin, Mustoe had a shot saved, Russell had a header saved following a good interchange with Butler, and just before the end another Russell shot went just wide.

As always we struggle to make an impact against 10 men, but in this case we made loads of chances, and on another day could have reached double figures. Plymouth offered little threat even with 11 on the pitch, Joseph on his return and the rest of the defence having an easy time. At the front Benjamin looked sharper than he has in recent weeks, Butler did a lot of good work, and Shaggy missed lots of chances. The midfield worked hard, Russell in particular having a very good game, always looking so calm when in possesion. MoM has to be Shaggy for finally breaking Alan Biley's goalscoring record.

The crowd was 3,933 which again is not enough for a team near the top. The quid-a-kid scheme certainly made it look as if there were more there though.

Ratings:
Marshall 6, Chenery 7, Mustoe 7, Duncan 8, Joseph 7, Campbell 7, Wanless 7, Taylor 9, Butler 8, Benjamin 7, Russell 8

I'll be reasonably happy if we create half as many good chances next Friday against Brentford, a game which I expect to be the hardest so far. Here's hoping there will be a good turn out by U's fans, and that 3 hours will be adequate driving time!

John Taylor was crowned 'King of the Abbey' before today's game and celebrated by signing a new two year contract and scoring a record-breaking 82nd goal to become Cambridge United's record goalscorer in all-competitions.

As anticipated after last week's defeat at Macclesfield, there were changes to United's side this afternoon. Neil Mustoe and Marc Joseph replaced Ian Ashbee and Martin McNeil respectively, and Ashbee joined David Preece and this morning's loan signing Richard Walker on the bench. Plymouth included former Abbey favourites Mick Heathcote and Jon Sheffield and arrived on the back of a four game losing streak. The game kicked off in mild conditions and the lunchtime rain had eased off.

Neil Mustoe made an early impression, as he did when coming off the bench last weekend, and after just 36 seconds he burst through the middle and picked out John Taylor but the 'King of the Abbey' produced a less-than regal shot which was well wide. After three minutes Mustoe's deep cross found Trevor Benjamin at the far post, the striker headed home but his effort was ruled out for offside.

After 15 minutes an Alex Russell shot rebounded off Mick Heathcote in a melee, and after 24 minute Ronnie Mauge collected a silly booking for kicking the ball away. Neil Mustoe followed him into the book five minutes later for a foul, and the next chance of a goal fell to the visitors. Martin Barlow's 25 yard shot was parried by Shaun Marshall who collected the ball at the second attempt.

After that United had the better of the chances although John Taylor contrived to waste them, on 38 minutes heading over after meeting Marc Joseph's cross and two minutes later heading wide after Benjamin had nodded Campbell's cross back across goal. But Taylor was not to be denied his fairytale goal and duly broke Alan Biley's record and wrote himself into the history books in the 44th minute. Ben Chenery scampered down the right wing but lost possession, the ball fell to Martin Butler who crossed for Paul Wanless, Jon Sheffield blocked the header and who else but John Taylor was perfectly placed to head the ball into the net from a yard out. He immediately raced to the North Terrace and threw himself into the ecstatic crowd who were privileged to see history being made at the Abbey this afternoon with Shaggy's 82nd goal.

Three minutes into injury time Ronnie Mauge clattered into Alex Russell, leaving Mr Stretton no choice but to show him a second yellow card and then the red card. United finished the half as strongly as they had started, although Argyle had dominated the middle section. (Half-time 1-0)

Plymouth made a change at half-time with Darren Bastow replacing Dwight Marshall. United unsurprisingly dominated their ten-man visitors without ever really looking like adding to the lead, mainly due to sterling performances by former Abbey stars Mick Heathcote and Jon Sheffield. Alex Russell's 50th minute cross fell to Andy Duncan but the defender miscued his shot so badly it ended back with Russell on the wing, he crossed but John Taylor's goalbound shot was blocked by Sheffield. The former U's goalkeeper was booked in the 50th minute for throwing the ball away.

On 59 minutes Russell's quick free kick fell to Benjamin whose cross was blocked and came back to him, and his follow-up shot curled just over the bar. A minute later Joseph's long header fell to Benjamin as the striker burst forward, but the experienced Heathcote did just enough to put Benjamin off balance and allow Sheffield to claim the ball. Two minutes after that Martin Butler robbed Barlow to feed Benjamin who raced forward, ignoring team-mates either side of him, but went on to place his shot wide of the goal.

United continued to dominate the half and in the 65th minute the busy Russell clipped the ball through for Butler who waited for the ball to come down over his shoulder only to shoot wide. United had another chance immediately when Taylor burst through but Sheffield narrowed the angle and the shot went wide. In the 69th minute Taylor met Russell's cross but his shot hit the bar and dropped kindly into Sheffield's hands.

A minute later young fullback Jon Beswetherick's cross fooled Marshall and Lee Phillips and Heathcote combined to get the ball back into the danger area, but Russell cleared the ball off the line. In the 76th minute Earl Jean was put through and drew a good save from Marshall with his first time shot. On 78 minutes another Russell cross was headed down by Benjamin, but Wanless hooked his shot over the bar. United kept pressing right to the end and although Barlow forced a save from Marshall in the 88th minute, Russell also went close with his 89th minute diving header after good work from Butler and Mustoe.

Reporter Mark Johnson's 'Man of the Match' was, unsurprisingly, John Taylor.