Auto Windscreens Shield first round - Tuesday 11th January, 2000
Cambridge
United (4-4-2): Van Heusden, Tann, Joseph, Chenery, Wilson; Youngs,
Wanless (c), Preece (Mackenzie 87'), Cassidy; Kyd, Guinan (Chillingworth
82'). Barnet: Harrison, Stockley,
Sawyers (Toms 72'), Heald, Arbour, Searle, Doolan, Currie, King (Charlery
62'), McGleish, Brown (Basham 62'). Referee: Bill Jordan (Tring)
Shots on target: Cambridge 4 Barnet 5
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A scratch U's side acquitted themselves
well tonight against the Division Three leaders until the introduction
of United nemesis Ken Charlery changed the game on the hour.
Martins
Butler and McNeil were suspended for tonight's match and only one player
who started at Wrexham retained his place: fullback Clive Wilson. He was
joined by Ben Chenery and Jamie Cassidy for their first senior games since
October, Marc Joseph who has dropped out of the first team picture in
recent weeks, and the youngster the fans have been asking to see: England
Under-18 international Adam Tann, who made his first team debut at right-back
while Chenery played at centre-half.
Paul Wanless has recovered from 'flu and made his first start since before
Christmas, up front Steve Guinan made his full debut alongside the recalled
Michael Kyd, while forward Tom Youngs played on the right of midfield
with Cassidy on the left. Third year scholar Darren Howe provided defensive
cover on the bench alongside highly-rated youth team colleague Daniel
Chillingworth. By contrast Barnet made just two changes to the side who
played in the league on Saturday, with Greg Heald and Scott McGleish restored
to the eleven.
The game got off to a disjointed start which was hardly surprising from
United's point of view with such an unfamiliar line-up, and it took nine
minutes for the first effort at goal. However Barnet's John Doolan fired
his effort embarrassingly high over the North Stand and into the car park.
But there followed a flurry of activity as United's attack clicked together
and in the 15th minute Kyd fed the ball to Guinan whose neat control made
room for a shot, but it was blocked by Harrison. A minute later a long
clearance bounced over Harrison and Wanless tried to latch on to it but
he ran out of pitch and the ball rolled out for a goal kick. Then a minute
after that Youngs fed Guinan who played a great ball out wide to Jamie
Cassidy, and his vicious low cross just eluded the on-rushing Kyd.
In the 24th minute Youngs' deep cross to the far post found Cassidy who
directed a poor header well wide, but in the 27th minute Guinan slid a
pass inside the box to the lively Tom Youngs who waltzed past a
defender and put an angled drive into the far corner of the net. It was
a well-taken goal and the second of his United career.
Ten minutes later a patient build-up by Barnet finally slipped Searle
in behind the United defence, but the cross was poor and easily cut out
by Arjan Van Heusden. A minute later David Preece threaded a great ball
through to the impressive Guinan who beat the offside trap, but Arbour's
perfectly-timed challenge denied the shooting opportunity. It was a scrappy
first half and the U's will have been well pleased to finish in the lead,
while new man Guinan had a bright first half and showed some good touches.
(Half-time 1-0)
The second half started with a scrappy spell which was briefly illuminated
in the 54th minute when Cassidy set up Guinan whose rasping drive flashed
wide with Youngs in acres of space in futile support. Then Barnet made
a double change in the 62nd minute, bringing on Basham for Brown and Ken
Charlery for King. Charlery was afforded the usual welcome reserved for
ex-Peterborough players, but with added venom as he is a striker who always
seem to score against United. The change added some buzz to the Bees attack
and it seemed only a matter of time before Charlery added to his tally
of goals against the U's.
After 65 minutes he played the ball to Currie who made space for a shot
that he placed well wide, and a couple of minutes later Charlery beat
Chenery to a bouncing ball but Van Heusden was out quickly to clear. United's
next attack came in the 71st minute when a Cassidy corner was fluffed
by the Barnet defence straight to Chenery whose stabbed shot was clutched
by the 'keeper, and a minute later there was consternation at the other
end as Scott McGleish caused problems around the goal-line before the
ball was smuggled away by Preece.
Barnet were building up the pressure on United at this stage as Marc
Joseph was off the pitch for six minutes having stitches in a head wound,
but in the 77th minute Kyd led the break out, finding Youngs who mesmerised
the defence before sliding a shot wide. Then in the 80th minute Joseph's
long throw was cleared to Wanless 20 yards out whose low drive was well-saved
low down by Harrison. From the clearance substitute Fraser Toms got away
down the left, beating Tann, and his cross was side-footed home at close-range
by that man Charlery.
Daniel Chillingworth joined Adam Tann in making his senior debut when
he came off the bench to replace Steve Guinan in the 82nd minute. Moments
later a mistake by Joseph let in Charlery but Van Heusden made a good
save low down at the near post, and Currie's corner kick hit Wanless and
bounced into the Dutchman's hands. Barnet kept the pressure on and with
four minutes of normal time remaining Doolan's 25 yard free kick hit the
cross bar, and in the 90th minute the crowd of just over 1500 saw the
new "10 yard rule" used for the first time. Scott McGleish was
the guilty man as he delayed a free kick but the movement of the ball
was hardly critical as the ball was in the centre circle.
"Golden goal extra time" followed and just 39 seconds into
the extra period Currie's cross was flicked on by Charlery to Searle whose
sliced shot from 10 yards brought a diving save from Van Heusden. It was
all over in the seventh minute of extra time when a weak clearance from
Van Heusden fell to Toms midway in the United half. He was allowed to
run to the edge of the box before slotting the ball inside the far post
and past Van Heusden's left hand.
Overall this was a scrappy game turned by the Barnet changes on the hour,
and not a bad performance by a United side comprising fringe players,
reserves, debutants and a skipper returning from 'flu, pitted against
the Division Three leaders.
Reporter Mark Johnson felt Steve Guinan looked promising on his full
debut, David Preece ran the midfield, Adam Tann did OK but faded late
in the game, as did most of the side, but his man of the match was Tom
Youngs: "A lively performance".
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The whole area around the Madejski Stadium is being developed, I don't know if it was green field or a brown site, but a lot is being invested. The Stadium itself is a marvel, well spaced seats, a colour scoreboard in one corner, beer is available from the snack bars, TV to watch while you wait, and most odd for a football ground was that the toilets do not smell! I don't mind paying a bit extra for facilities, the £14 was well worth it compared to Bournemouth at the start of the season. The area will be even better when they have finished all the approach roads so that drivers are not stuck in traffic for ages trying to get away. The playing surface is a bit of a let down, with not a lot of grass on it.
Reading made the first chance in the first minute, shooting well wide. On 7 minutes Marshall came a long way for a cross which he miss handled, the ball dropped to a Reading player just outside the penalty area who lobbed the ball towards the net but our defence cleared the danger a few yards from the line. Mackenzie made a good run which stopped when his low cross was blocked, almost immediately Reading scored, but their player was offside from the long crossfield ball. Wanless had a shooting chance but blazed the ball very high over the bar from 20 yards.
On 25 minutes McNeil tried to shepherd the ball out for a throw in but lost out as a Reading player got possession, luckily the resulting shot was well wide. Russell did well in their penalty area to turn a defender, but the ball ran a little too far and was collected by the 'keeper. Eustace had a good header from a corner well saved. Butler got away down the wing, but his cross was blocked. Soon after Butler set up Mackenzie for a shot, but it was poorly hit and straight to the 'keeper. Benjamin laid a good ball back to Butler, his curling shot went past the far post though. In the final minute of the half Mackenzie had a good shot blocked for a corner.
As with the first half Reading started the brighter, from a free kick a shot was deflected for a corner, and then a free header missed the target by a distance. On 10 minutes a looping shot from some way out hit the top of our crossbar with Marshall beaten. From defence we broke quickly and a resulting shot from Mackenzie was saved. 20 minutes into the half and Russell was replaced by Taylor and we went to 4-3-3. We continued to push forward, Wanless shot well wide, then Butler turned quickly outside the penalty area and fired in a shot which went just the wrong side of the post.
A long cross to Benjamin was crossed back to Taylor at the far post, his shot from a tight angle went straight into the keeper's hands though. We gained a free kick about 25 yards out, the routine that worked so well at Wrexham almost worked, but a deflection took the pace off the ball and into the arms of the keeper. 5 minutes from the end Wilson got injured by the touchline, and despite coming back on was in no fit state to continue and was replaced by Joseph. From a cross Benjamin tried a looping headed to the back post, but the accuracy was not quite good enough and the ball was easily claimed by the 'keeper. In the final minute Joseph dallied on the ball, his clearance was charged down to give a Reading forward a good chance, but Marshall was equal to it.
A goalless draw from a game which both teams will claim they could have won. As the away team I suppose we gain more in the way of confidence from keeping a clean sheet. Both teams showed at times showed good skills in moving the ball around, then showed that neither wanted to lose by making sure defenders were back in numbers.
At the end a group of a couple of hundred Reading fans invaded the pitch very easily, despite the stewards seeing them massing by the fence. Whatever it was they were protesting about was quickly forgotten as they advanced towards the United fans, the stewards did put themselves in the way, but did nothing to move them away. A couple of them were swinging on the crossbar, then started throwing coins. United fans resorted to chanting back at them, quite what would have happened if they had been playing Millwall does not bear thinking about. It makes a "Bring a Carrot" campaign seem positively low key!
Terry
Wilby |
THERE was nothing golden about the silence which descended on all but a tiny section of the Abbey Stadium seven minutes into extra time. That was when Frazer Toms punished slack and sloppy Cambridge United, grabbing the sudden-death winner to earn third division Barnet next week's second round Auto Windscreens home tie with Reading. It seemed an unlikely outcome for the first hour in which a United reserve team easily controlled a low-key game, which could have been mistaken for an Avon Insurance Combination fixture. But once Barnet reverted to the style, and almost the line-up, which has made them promotion challengers this season, they had too much power and determination for Roy McFarland's makeshift side. Ken Charlery, always a thorn in United's flesh from his Peterborough days, was the bogeyman once more, demonstrating his skill and know-how to get the 80th minute equaliser which made Barnet hot favourites for victory in extra time against tiring United. Until their team folded like a pack of cards, however, a surprisingly large number of United supporters for such a match could be excused for viewing it with a certain smugness. The Auto Windscreens Shield might well provide the best chance for lower division teams to reach a Wembley final, but it was clear the weekend's relegation battle at Reading was uppermost in McFarland's mind as he retained only one man, left-back Clive Wilson, from the side which beat Wrexham in the FA Cup. Nevertheless the cobbled-together team, in which right-back Ben Chenery played at centre-half and striker Tom Youngs in midfield, eclipsed what was Barnet's best line-up, minus two players, in the first half. Recent signing from Nottingham Forest Steve Guinan, in his first start, looked strong and experienced up front, often combining well with Youngs, whose jinking runs gave Barnet problems on the right flank, the pair combining for a well-worked 27th minute goal. Young England defender Adam Tann did not look out of place in senior soccer at that stage, while Chenery did a solid job in his unusual position alongside Marc Joseph. Paul Wanless was clearly playing his way back to fitness after flu, but United still had the most effective midfielder in coach David Preece. Untroubled even by a pair of voluminous shorts which reached down almost to the tops of his socks, the old maestro produced perfectly-placed and weighted passes which kept Barnet on the back foot for long spells. "We couldn't get into the match," admitted their goalkeeper Lee Harrison. "I think the Cambridge line-up threw us a bit, it wasn't what we were expecting. But we were stronger as the match went on, and the substitutions made a big difference." Charlery, sent into the action in the 61st minute, quickly showed United they were getting into a different kind of encounter. He set up a shot which Darren Currie fired wide in the 65th minute, and soon after bustled past Chenery to force a diving save from Arjan Van Heusden. When Barnet boss John Still made another change, in the 72nd minute, sending on a teenager, it seemed notable only in that Toms replaced Sawyers. But Toms provided the pace to stretch the tiring Tann and provide the support Charlery needed to put the third division men on top. A Toms run and typically clinical Charlery finish levelled the scores with 10 minutes to go, and few people in the Abbey could then have felt confident about a United win. Time had caught up with Preece, a bug was getting a grip on Guinan, and poor displays by Michael Kyd and Jamie Cassidy were being exposed. All the action was at the wrong end, John Doolan skimming the crossbar with an 85th minute thunderbolt, and Steve Searle forcing a good save from Van Heusden in the opening minute of sudden death extra time. United youngster Dan Chillingworth made a promising run or two, but there was nothing happening for United in attack. A penalty shoot-out was too far away for them, and there seemed almost a sense of relief in the ground -- if a little confusion on the pitch -- when Toms' 97th minute golden goal put an end to a highly-forgettable evening. Report © Cambridge Newspapers Ltd |
The Game started off well with the U's having the power to push forward but still Barnet used the space left by Clive Wilson and Adam Tann to hit us on the break. When we pushed we just could'nt hit the net but when we did we just slacked off and allowed Barnet to score the equaliser and so we were doomed to extra time and after two strong attacks from barnet lost the game on the golden goal rule. A bad game with all the makings of a Conference game, Spirits were low and only three regular players played. OVERALL VERY VERY POOR RESULT
Man of the match: ICE Van Heusden - great performance
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After a promising 1st half with some good movement and a smart finish from Tom Youngs (Martin Butler's possible replacement when he goes) United just sat back too much in the 2nd half and Charlery's goal had been coming for about 10 minutes. The perfect response to the chants of "Posh Reject!!" for most of the night. Some of the football played was as good as anything I've seen in the last month with the exception of last Saturday. When it was announced the match could go to penalties there was a cheer but this was not to be when Barnet stole the golden goal just 3 minutes into extra time. Although playing with the wind it was Barnet who took their third chance in 3 minutes and it was no surprise. Toms the man who set up Charlery's goal slipped the ball past a commanding Arjan Van Heusden and it was aganising to watch the ball cross the line. Everybody just got up and left as Barnet celebrated having booked a place in the 2nd Round at home to Reading.
A tournament I rate, due to the chance of getting to Wembley as we so nearly showed last season before Walsall beat us on penalties is now gone. We have to look at it as a distraction out of the way as we head for the crunch ties against Chesterfield (if we do not win we're down in my opinion) and Bolton in the cup the U's players and fans alike must pick themselves up for a nervy 2nd half to the season.
Man of the match: Clive Wilson
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What is wrong with some of the clubs in our League? Spending all that money to make a nice stadium? Don't they know that all football grounds should be made smaller to leave more land for allotments?