Nationwide League Division Two - Saturday 4th December, 1999
Cambridge
United (4-3-3): Van Heusden, Ashbee, Joseph, McNeil, Wilson;
Mustoe, Wanless, Mackenzie (Taylor 76'); Kyd, Butler, Benjamin.
AFC Bournemouth: Ovendale,
Young, Warren, Cox, Broadhurst, Elliott, Jorgensen, Robinson, Stein, Day
(Mean 77'), Fletcher. Referee: M. Cowburn (Blackpool)
Goal attempts: Cambridge 9 Bournemouth 5 |
Bournemouth recorded their second away win of the season in a controversial game in which their attacks were as rare as a good decision from referee Mark Cowburn, while United slipped deeper into the relegation zone after failing to create anything from the lion's share of possession. Roy McFarland sprang a surprise by naming an unchanged side to face Bournemouth this afternoon, leaving intact the eleven who lost 2-1 at Blackpool last weekend. After extra training last Sunday and at the beginning of this week, perhaps this was the manager giving them a chance to redeem themselves and deliver the backlash he would dearly love to see. New signing Jason Kavanagh was on the bench while Alex Russell was not recalled to the squad after making his comeback for the reserves on Wednesday. The Cherries were without suspended pair William Huck and Carl Fletcher but handed a debut to Stuart Elliott, signed on loan from Newcastle United. A further surprise came when Bournemouth kicked off towards their own fans, indicating that United had won the throw but chosen to attack their own favoured Corona End in the first half instead of the second. This was possibly to start the match with the swirling wind at their backs, and Trevor Benjamin got away down the left to set up Paul Wanless for a shot after just 26 seconds, but the U's skipper fired well over the bar from just outside the box. In the third minute Ian Ashbee's long throw was flicked on by Trevor Benjamin at the near post, but Paul Wanless' stooping header just over the bar. Ken Steggles' new two-way link with the club doctor was christened straight afterwards as he was required to give Wanless some attention for a knock to the head. United enjoyed plenty of possession throughout the half, but it soon began to resemble the matches against Bamber Bridge and Blackpool as the possession was not turned into scoring chances while the referee seemed content to see United players clattered to the ground without taking any action. In the 15th minute Neil Mackenzie played a little pass to Ashbee whose deep cross was met by Benjamin, but the big striker planted a pinpoint header into the goalkeeper's arms. After 23 minutes Mark Stein got away down the left and crossed to Claus Jorgensen who sent his diving header wide from eight yards. United continued to dominate possession but paid for the failure to capitalise when Bournemouth scored from a rare attack after 36 minutes. Steve Robinson saw his effort thump into Marc Joseph, Jorgensen took possession and advanced into the area before appearing to fall over Joseph's legs and Mr Cowburn gave a dubious-looking penalty. Robinson tucked the ball away as Marshall went the wrong way. Two minute later Mackenzie's cross was met by Michael Kyd but he glanced his header well wide. The half wound down with United continuing to have most of the play but failing to produce the final ball or cross to make the breakthrough, and ended in pouring rain and with David Preece having a quiet word with the referee as they left the pitch. (Half-time 0-1) The second half was punctuated by moments of controversy. United continued to enjoy plenty of ultimately meaningless possession and in the 51st minute Mackenzie saw his long-range effort deflected behind for a wasted corner. Ten minutes later the ground erupted as Neil Mustoe's free kick was caught on the swirling breeze and the ball was fumbled by goalkeeper Mark Ovendale who caught the rebound when it was clearly over the line before shuffling it forward. Incredibly Mr Cowburn and his assistant decided otherwise. Then to cap it off United could justifiably claim they were denied a penalty just five minutes later. Trevor Benjamin burst half the length of the pitch and into the box with the ball, before - in a similar incident to the first half penalty incident - he went down under pressure from Ian Cox. As the home fans screamed "penalty" Mr Cowburn decided Benjamin had dived and booked him for unsporting behaviour. With the rain lashing down and the home support singing "one-nil to the referee", Bournemouth rubbed salt into the wounds in the 75th minute by doubling their advantage from their second attack of the game. It was again slightly controversial as defender Christer Warren blocked an Ashbee free kick from all of five yards before breaking away and winning a corner, and Jamie Day's effort was helped in by the wind as Robinson dived in at the near post. Roy McFarland reacted by withdrawing Neil Mackenzie and throwing old warhorse John Taylor into the fray, while Scott Mean replaced Day a minute later. It was all in vain however as despite more United pressure the Cherries were able to defend their lead in numbers while the Abbey emptied. Reporter Mark Johnson struggled to name a man of the match today, saying, "Butler ran his socks off without scoring, Mustoe and Wanless worked hard, Wilson and Ashbee were steady." Eventually he decided upon Paul Wanless for "hard work in the face of a 14-man opposition." United slipped two places to 23rd in the table after this result, the 22nd consecutive league game without a clean sheet. Speaking to Mark Johnson after the match, Alex Russell said he had not felt quite ready for today but hopes to be involved next Friday against Crystal Palace. His comments on his comeback, today's match and the refereeing decisions can be heard on United's Clubcall line on 09068 555885.
RESULTS AND ATTENDANCES ON 04/12/99
Brentford 0-3 Bristol Rovers 6,843
Bristol City 3-1 Reading 8,936
Burnley 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers 9,149
Cambridge United 0-2 AFC Bournemouth 3,579
Gillingham 1-0 Bury 7,036
Luton Town 2-2 Notts County 5,195
Millwall 2-0 Cardiff City 9,044
Oxford United 1-1 Stoke City 5,700
Preston North End 2-0 Oldham Athletic 10,970
Scunthorpe United 1-2 Wigan Athletic 3,463
Wrexham 1-1 Blackpool 2,668
BOTTOM OF DIVISION TWO AFTER TODAY'S MATCHES
20 Colchester United 20 4 6 10 21 42 -21 18
21 Reading 19 4 5 10 23 37 -14 17
22 Blackpool 20 3 7 10 21 35 -14 16
23 Cambridge United 20 3 6 11 28 36 -8 15
24 Chesterfield 19 2 6 11 11 21 -10 12
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After the last home game where Moosenet sponsored the game, it was back to the normal routine of chatting in the Supporters Club and not winning with the draw tickets. The programme had the picture of Moosenetters presenting MoM to Neil Mustoe after the Bamber Bridge game, and a guest writer by the name of Ian Elliott (who?) guesting in place of Andrea.
The sun was coming in low over the Habbin, we won the toss and chose to attack the Abbey so their 'keeper would have the sun in his eyes.
The extra training following the poor performance last week seemed to have an effect as we attacked from the start, in the first minute a cross from Benjamin was half cleared to Wanless who shot over from around 20 yards. A couple of minutes later Benjamin headed on a long throw and Wanless this time headed over. Kyd crossed early, Benjamin chested the ball down to Mustoe who couldn't quite get a shot in but managed to cross and Kyd headed wide. then Kyd had a good run but his cross was cleared, then the same player had a shot blocked in the 9th minute.
On 15 minutes a deep cross from Ashbee was met at the back post by Benjamin but his header was straight into the arms of their 'keeper. The referee had not been doing too badly, but then started to play to a different set of rules! Wanless went on a run towards their penalty area and was stopped by 2 defenders who blocked him but somehow managed to concede a free kick!
On 33 minutes their #20 (Day) was booked for a very late and high challenge on Mackenzie. Nothing came from the free kick, but as they broke out Wilson closed their player down, slipped slightly as he tried to stop and slid into the player, barely touching him but was booked!
Bournemouth hadn't looked at all dangerous, but on 35 minutes were awarded a penalty for what I haven't a clue! They scored to take the lead though, the referee was then booed by 3 sides of the ground. From a Mackenzie cross Kyd headed just past the far post. More odd refereeing when a defender jumped at Benjamin without winning the ball but hurt himself. The referee (who was quite close) at first didn't blow his whistle, then decided the player was hurt and blew the whistle which was fair enough, but then decided to give them a free kick instead of the expected drop ball!
Rain and light sleet had started to fall as the sun went in and darkness fell, and the temperature seemed to drop by about 10 degrees making for not very nice playing conditions.
We started the second half as the first, Mackenzie had a good shot slightly deflected and the ball went just wide of the post for a corner. Their #7 (Cox) was booked for holding Butler in the 10th minute. On 15 minutes we thought we had equalised, a long cross was dropped by their 'keeper (unchallenged too!) near the goal line, he then recovered to grab the ball on the line before a forward could tap in. The referee decided the ball had not crossed the line despite the appeals of our players.
A minute later Kyd had another good run which culminated in a cross which went straight at the 'keeper. Another odd decision, Benjamin got booked after 20 minutes for diving as he was challenged in their penalty area with the ball at his feet.
On 28 minute we had a free kick midway in their half. Mackenzie (I think) rolled the ball straight to one of their players who ran past a number of our players and was only stopped when Joseph came across with a good tackle to concede a corner. However from the corner they scored, a waist high cross to the near post was missed by a group of 2 or 3 players and the ball richoched into the net off the unsighted Marshall. Mackenzie was replaced by Taylor at the restart and we went to 4-2-4. We kept trying to score, Benjamin had a shot over, Kyd had a header saved and Mustoe had a shot blocked from a short corner, but it was going to be one of those days.
In both halves we had around 80% territorial advantage, but didn't make enough quality chances, and in the first half didn't test their 'keeper at all. In the first half our wide front men put in some good early crosses and the front players were well supported by the midfield. However, in the second half the crosses dried up, even though the swirling wind and rain was causing their 'keeper some difficulties, and their defenders were not too hot either.
Mackenzie had a few good moves, but was on the whole disappointing. Wanless seemed to have trouble controlling the ball, luckily for us Mustoe played well. The defence was not really troubled, and Marshall didn't have a save to make. At the front Kyd did well, as did the ever running Butler, but Benjamin was tightly marked and relatively ineffective.
Although we lost I was not too disappointed as we played reasonably. With a bit of luck and less dodgy refereeing decisions we could (and should) have won. I doubt the players will be brought in for extra training this Sunday after today's performance. Of course the reason we lost was because my daughter didn't come to the match, she's seen us win 3 out of 3 times she's been so far. I am trying to get her to come along next Friday though.
Terry
Wilby |
Cambridge went down to a controversial defeat at home to Bournemouth which plunged them deeper into relegation trouble.
They had appealed for a goal and for a penalty, but both were turned down by referee Mark Cowburn who awarded a spot kick to Bournemouth in the first half.
Steve Robinson fired the Cherries in front after defender Marc Joseph was judged to have brought down Claus Jorgensen. But when Cambridge's Trevor Benjamin was involved in a similar incident in the 66th minute, the referee booked him for diving.
Five minutes before that it looked as though a Neil Mustoe free kick had dropped over the goal line before goalkeeper Mark Ovendale grabbed the ball, but the referee waved play on.
As Cambridge chased the game in the second half Bournemouth broke away to force a 75th minute corner. Jamie Day got on the end of it and sent the ball directly in at the near post. Report © Soccernet |
DID he fall? Was he pushed? Did he dive? Was it a goal? Does it matter? The last question may be the least interesting, but unfortunately for fumbling, crumbling Cambridge United it is the most relevant. Three crucial, controversial incidents decided Saturday's scruffy, wind-blown game with Bournemouth. And in all three, referee Mark Cowburn ruled against Roy McFarland's men. Depending on your point of view - and that varied even among the United players - they could have produced a scoreline by the 66th minute of 0-0, 1-0, 1-1, 2-0, 2-1, or as it turned out 0-1. The man in turquoise (presumably some fashion expert's secret revenge on match officials) handed a 36th minute penalty to the visitors, decided Neil Mustoe's 61st minute free kick had not crossed the goal line, which from the grandstand it appeared to have done, and five minutes later not only waved away Trevor Benjamin's appeal for a spot kick, but booked him for acting. It all gave players and supporters plenty to shout and argue about, but as they say in the financial pages, it was the underlying trend which was the really dusturbing aspect of the afternoon as far as United were concerned. Extract the three flashpoints from the 90 minutes and you are left with a near-inaction replay of the miserable, muddled performance at Blackpool which so enraged McFarland. When it was discovered another Alex Russell comeback had been postponed, and new signing from Stoke, Jason Kavanagh was only to be one of the substitutes, the grim joke in the grandstand was: "He probably doesn't want to disrupt the balance of the side." But it was not very funny as the match unfolded and the sense of deja vu for anyone who witnessed the Blackpool debacle became overwhelming. United unusually chose to play their favourite way, towards the Corona Kop, in the first half rather than the traditional second, with the biting wind at their backs. A barnstorming start trapped the Cherries in their own penalty area, and although the initial power-drive waned after 10 minutes or so, United had territorial advantage and a good 80 per cent of the possession during the first half. But again it produced hardly anything in the penalty area. The basic errors highlighted by the manager during a tough week of training were still all too evident. Most crosses and passes to the strikers hit the first defender, went whipping in the wind over the crossbar, or fell into the hands of goalkeeper Mark Ovendale. And the front men were just as much to blame for the side's inability to turn possession into goal attempts. "We must get people coming in at the far post when the ball is crossed," said McFarland in midweek. Just before half time Neil Mackenzie floated over a ball which found the Cherries' defence out of position, but there was not a soul around at the back post to take advantage. Just one of too many examples. And Bournemouth who defended well, in depth, launching only a handful of real attacks all afternoon, were rarely caught out at the back like that, because United's build-up and final ball was so predictable. Necessity may be the mother of invention, but in this instance she seemed to have gone Christmas shopping. For all their possession, and despite their desperate need for victory, United forced only one save from the Bournemouth keeper with what was intended as a strike on goal - Mustoe's near miss was a mis-directed cross. Martin Butler covered acres as usual, but got on the end of nothing, and Paul Wanless, Michael Kyd and Trevor Benjamin peppered shots and headers high and wide. Benjamin was the only one to hit the target, with a 15th minute header from a good, deep Ian Ashbee cross to the far post. The striker made firm contact five yards out, but the ball was aimed straight at the keeper whose reflexes were working well. United still looked unfortunate to be trailing going into the last quarter. The tackle by Ian Cox on Benjamin seemed as worthy (or not) of a spot kick as the contact Joseph made with his arm on Claus Jorgensen. And from the press box it looked, to the Bournemouth Echo man, as well as me, as though the ball had crossed the line when Ovendale dropped Mustoe's cross, the keeper dragging it back up the line after diving behind it. But in view of the poor level of overall play, and the loss of another ludicrous goal 15 minutes from time, directly from a corner, a draw - as Butler and skipper Paul Wanless agreed - was the best United could have hoped for. In their precarious position that is nowhere near enough. And if it acts as an extra incentive to the side, I have to say, having covered five relegation seasons, there is now a horribly familiar and unmistakable hint of doom in the Abbey air. Report © Cambridge Newspapers Ltd |
A bright December day looked good from indoors, but when I got outside there was a bitterly cold wind, so the cold weather gear of thermal long-johns and hat was required.