Nationwide League Division Two - Friday 15th October, 1999
Cambridge United (4-3-3): Van Heusden, Ashbee, Duncan (c),
Eustace (Joseph 73'), Wilson; Mustoe, Paterson (Preece 90'), Mackenzie; Kyd (Taylor 84'), Butler, Benjamin.
Colchester United: Brown, Farley (McGavin 80'), Keith, Burton (Skelton 88'), Greene, Wilkins (c), Arnott, Gregory, Dozzell, Duguid, Lua Lua.
Shots on target: Cambridge 7 Colchester 3
Referee: Graham Poll (Tring) |
A hattrick by Martin Butler in front of the inevitable string of scouts capped Cambridge United's second win of the season and ended a run of ten matches without a win. But the striker's was only one of a number of outstanding performances by a revitalised U's team.
Ben Chenery and Darren Byfield dropped out of tonight's line-up to allow Neil Mackenzie to make his debut and Michael Kyd to make a first team comeback after being transfer-listed. Ian Ashbee moved from midfield to right back and Neil Mustoe returned to the side at the expense of John Taylor. Former United skipper Richard Wilkins returned with the 'other' U's tonight, and the game kicked off in chilly conditions.
United started quite brightly and after five minutes a flowing move culminated in a pass from Mackenzie to Mustoe, who slid the ball inside the full back to Clive Wilson on the overlap. The veteran full back whipped in a vicious cross just in front of Michael Kyd's flying header, and the U's very looking good. Trevor Benjamin's 12th minute flick set up Martin Butler who just failed to steer tha ball past the keeper, but a minute later stand-in skipper Andy Duncan's backpass lacked pace, Lua Lua pounced but Arjan Van Heusden deflected the ball onto the bar and over.
Colchester took the lead in the 17th minute when Carl Duguid beat the offside trap from Wilkins' pass and found Jason Dozzell inside the area, and the former Ipswich and Spurs player's neat drag back beat the lunge of Scott Eustace before his shot beat Van Heusden. There followed a period of some pressure as Colchester tried to extend their lead but Scott Paterson looked solid in the centre of midfield while Mackenzie had settled fast and showed his class, and Neil Mustoe worked like a player keen to make up for missing two games through suspension.
The work paid off in the 29th minute when Paterson's crossfield pass found Benjamin who took his time and allowed an extra defender to get back to mark him before beating both men and picking out Paterson on the edge of the 'D'. Paterson brilliantly lobbed the defence and found the outstretched boot of Martin Butler, who in turn lifted the ball over the keeper and into the roof of the net.
United kept the pressure on and in the 32nd minute Ashbee smashed a freekick through a crowd of players and Duncan just failed to connect, the ball was cleared behind and from the resulting corner Duncan went close with a header. Moments later some poor defending saw Scott Eustace present the ball to the speedy Lua Lua but his tame shot trickled to Van Heusden. Martin Butler had a shot from just outside the area deflected just wide in the 34th minute, then in the 37th minute his run saw the ball fall to Mackenzie whose cross into the box was deflected into the net by David Greene's outstretched boot.
Despite the welcome lead, United still showed worrying hesitance in defence and in the 41st minute Sagi Burton was allowed to advance unchecked but his shot from 20 yards was well saved by Van Heusden. A minute later Scott Paterson's free kick from 20 yards went through the wall but the pace was taken off it and Michael Kyd was strangely flagged offside as he raced onto the ball.
The Abbey's biggest crowd of the season so far had witnessed an exciting first half, partly because neither side had defended too well, but the Cambridge midfield had looked much better with Paterson at the heart of matters in the holding role while new boy Mackenzie had simply oozed class. For their part, Colchester had pace up front and with Richard Wilkins pulling the strings in midfield they were playing some good football. (Half-time 2-1)
Both sides came out to attack after the break with Lua Lua seeing his 30 yard shot comfortably held by Van Heusden and Mackenzie's freekick back-heeled just wide by Kyd in the first six minutes. Then Colchester levelled the score in the 54th minute and sparked a thrilling revivial by the real U's, when the exciting and exotically-named Lomana Tresor Lua Lua beat Eustace and Wilson on the by-line before pulling the ball back across the area for Jason Dozzell to bundle it over the line.
Colchester enjoyed the best of the action for about five minutes before Kyd curled a cross to the far post where Trevor Benjamin just failed to connect. Then in the 65th minute Paterson, who was pulling the strings in midfield, produced a great diagonal through ball for Kyd as he scuttled forward, but the goalkeeper got his angles right and saved the shot at the edge of the six yard box. Five minutes later Ashbee's free kick found Butler at the far post who knocked the ball down for Benjamin, but the big striker couldn't turn fast enough in the area and the ball was hacked clear.
Marc Joseph came on in the 73rd minute for Scott Eustace who seemed to be limping and will miss Tuesday night's game through suspension anyway. Then a minute later some dreadful Colchester defending saw them try to play offside on the edge of their box. The revitalised Michael Kyd broke through, his shot was blocked by the defence to Butler whose shot on the turn was also blocked, then Mustoe's rasping drive was deflected to Trevor Benjamin six yards out and he rattled the ball into the net. There followed some furious scenes as the Colchester players and bench argued for offside but referee Graham Poll handled the situation calmly and restored order.
United were clearly in the ascendancy and in the 78th minute Mackenzie's freekick was headed by Kyd into the goalkeeper's midriff, and four minutes later Mustoe's 25 yard shot was palmed away at full-stretch by Simon Brown, who then kicked the ball clear as it fell to Benjamin six yards out. Despite the influential Mackenzie fading a little as his lack of match fitness caught up with him, United could smell the rare scent of victory and wanted more.
There was a brief interruption as Michael Kyd, who had enjoyed terrorising his full back and looked eager to impress after being placed on the transfer list, was replaced by John Taylor in the 84th minute and he left the pitch to a standing ovation. Colchester pushed forward looking for the equaliser and with five minutes left Benjamin rumbled through the middle only to see his shot hit the post, but Martin Butler was on hand to walk the ball into the net.
Victory in a rare local derby was made sweeter in the 89th minute when Mustoe and Mackenzie combined to slide the ball through to the ever-willing Butler, and with only the goalkeeper to beat he rattled a shot in off the post to complete his second hattrick in amber and black. Victory could have been ever more emphatic a minute later if Benjamin had not fired well wide after walzing around three defenders and leaving himself with the goalkeeper at his mercy.
Butler only marred his performance by picking up a booking in the 93rd minute for a needless foul, but at last the Abbey crowd could hail their heroes and stream towards the exits with the sound of 'Coconuts' ringing in their ears.
Deciding upon his Man of the Match he described Neil Mackenzie as elegant and oozing class, adding that his arrival sparked tonight's revival, But for the second successive week he chose Scott Paterson: "A delightful range of passing, he looks to be reaching match fitness and in that sort of midfield it was a superb mix."
After the game a delighted Roy McFarland said, "It was a win we desperately needed and one we thoroughly deserved, although Colchester will feel hard done by as far as the score-line is concerned.
"I thought we showed great character when they hit back to equalise, because after a run like we've had that's when you might expect nerves to get to the players. Neil Mackenzie came in and did a great job for us, even though he hadn't played a full game this season."
In an interview for Cambridge United Clubcall he added that he was pleased with a lot of the play and thought Paterson and Mackenzie did particularly well in a good team performance. He was also full of praise for the supporters who made up the Abbey's largest crowd of the season so far, saying that they created an excellent atmosphere.
Martin Butler, clutching his second match ball, said he enjoyed playing in front of that midfield and praised Scott Paterson's pass for the first goal, while Michael Kyd pointed out that the U's hattrick hero had a touch of 'flu earlier in the week.
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We did more in the first 5 minutes than in the whole of the game at Wycombe, in the first minute Butler robbed a defender but his cross was too good for any attackers. Then a good move involving Kyd and Mustoe released Wilson who got to the bye line, his cross just too high for the inrushing Kyd. Almost immediately Benjamin had a chance but shot weakly for an easy save. from a free kick Benjamin headed on to Butler but his toe poke went just wide.
Col U's best chances came from defensive errors, a poor back pass from Duncan gave a chance that Van Heusden blocked for a corner, then more poor defending allowed the forward to turn in the penalty area, lay the ball back for a shot which went just inside the post to give Col U the lead on 16 minutes.
Duncan continued to defend poorly, missing a tackle near the bye line to allow a cross but Van Heusden saved the header. We got back into the game on 28 minutes, from a period of pressure Wilson passed square to Paterson who dinked the ball over the defence for Butler to lob the 'keeper for 1-1.
6 minutes later Butler made space on the edge of their penalty area for a curling shot which was deflected just enough to take it the wrong side of the post. Our defence still looked all at sea, the ball fell at the feet of Eustace and Duncan around our 6 yard line, both left it for each other before eventually deciding to clear!
We took the lead with a bit of luck, Mackenzie made room for a cross wide on our left to the near post where the defender swung a boot at the ball and sliced it straight into the top corner of the goal. About time we had some good luck. Their best player was Lua Lua (isn't that one of the Tellytubbies?) who we seemed unable to tackle properly. Van Heusden had to save a low shot from him just before half time. Soon after their 'keeper saved a Paterson free kick, and we kept the lead up to half time.
Into the second half, from a free kick Kyd flicked the ball just past the post, then from a Mackenzie cross Kyd headed back for Butler to shot but his shot was weak and easily saved. Of course with all these chances we knew we'd blow it, and on 9 minutes Lau Lua went past 2 defenders to the goal line, crossed low for a simple tap in to equalise.
On 19 minutes Kyd got free for a run at goal but his shot towards the far post was saved. On 26 minutes Eustace came off to be replaced by Joseph. Another period of pressure gave Kyd a chance but his shot was blocked by 2 defenders on the 6 yard line, the rebound fell to Butler whose shot was blocked by the 'keeper, but the ball eventually went across the goal to the unmarked Benjamin who scored from a few yards out to give us back the lead.
We continued pressing, Kyd had a header saved, Mustoe cut inside to give space for a good shot that was well stopped by the 'keeper but the ball fell to Benjamin whose shot was also saved again by the 'keeper for a corner. On 38 minutes Taylor came on for Kyd. From then on it was one way traffic, Benjamin playing burst through the middle, was half tackled but kept his feet for a shot which hit the post and rebounded behind the 'keeper for Butler to tap in near the other post.
A couple of minutes from the end Butler went through and scored off the post for his hat trick and making the score 5-2. Preece came on for Paterson on 45 minutes. There was still time for Benjamin to have another run through, but chose to shoot just past the near post instead of going for the undefended far post. Butler managed to get himself booked in the final seconds for a late tackle.
A welcome win, and proof that however bad we think we are there is a worse team around! Kyd had a good game, so perhaps if the central defenders are put on the transfer list they will play better! Joseph, when he came on, added a bit of authority to the defence, clear the ball first and a long way and ask questions later seeming to be his attitude, which I think is exactly right. The full backs did OK.
In the middle Paterson did OK (something I didn't expect I'd have to say after the last couple of times I've seen him) in the Wanless role. Perhaps they are too alike to be playing in the same team. Mustoe had a good game and was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet, and Mackenzie did well too. He looks to have the skills we have been so lacking. At the front both Benjamin and Butler did really well, Butler in particular kept running and chasing lost causes right up to the final whistle. I'm
not sure if Taylor and Preece actually touched the ball in the time they were on!
The helium filled linesman's flag was in evidence in the first half, all 3 forwards being flagged for offside on a number of occasions when there seemed to be a defender behind them. For the play leading up to their first goal the other linesman had the lead-loaded flag that he couldn't lift! Graham Poll seemed a little whistle happy, at times all the players were wondering what he had seen and what decision he'd made, and stopped the game a couple of times to give us a free kick when we already had possession.
We left the ground singing:
Let's all hope that the corner has well and truly been turned, and we can start to move up the division.
Terry
Wilby |
"Sometimes we can be awesome"
At last, after months of tracking him, Roy McFarland has got his man. Neil Mackenzie has signed and Stoke will collect £40,000, comprising of 30K down and the rest based on appearances. Astonishingly, although it is nominal in today's market, this is the highest fee paid by Cambridge United for six years. There has never been any doubt that this is the one McFarland really wanted. Even when the deal seemed dead, McFarland made his feelings clear. A member of the Vice President's Club told me that when he asked McFarland about a better-than-average trialist he did not sign, he answered by asking who he would rather see signed - the one he let go or Neil Mackenzie? The implication was that he could not afford both.
After the dreadful display at Wycombe, McFarland makes a number of important changes. Transfer-listed Michael Kyd is in the shop window and as Cambridge revert to 4-3-3, he gets his place up front with Trevor Benjamin restored as well to line up with Martin Butler. The rumours persist about Butler. Everyone knows it is not a case of if he will go, but when and to whom. The Abbey Rumour Factory is now saying that Brentford - awash with money after selling Hreidarsson for £2.5 million - have upped their bid to £850,000. At the back McFarland makes another change. Ben Chenery - who he says has not played well this season - is dropped with Ian Ashbee, one of the season success stories, moving to right back.
Before the game I talk to the injured Paul Wanless who tells me that he felt his injury after 10 minutes of last Saturday's match but did not want to come off. He says it is responding to treatment and although there is no way he could have play tonight, he is confident he will be fit by Tuesday. "We'll win tonight" he tells me with utter conviction. Andy Duncan, who many fans have not been convinced about this season, gets the captain's armband. Today Cambridge play a side that are below even them in the table. Colchester, under Steve Whitton, are really struggling. They have only scored 3 goals away from home this season, and his preview Trevor Peer of Radio Cambridgeshire comments "This is a side that can't score goals playing against a team that can't defend".
They are captained by Richard Wilkins, who when he was fit, was the class act in midfield for John Beck's team. John Wark, the ex Ipswich and Scotland player, is one of many here tonight on a scouting trip, and the referee is Graham Poll, another of the Premier League refs doing a compulsory lower League game. All the talk before the game, even so early in the season, is about this being an "six pointer" and the biggest crowd of the season - 5,039 - are in the ground.
Cambridge kick off towards the allotments end. With just 37 seconds gone Martin Butler robs Sagi Burton but his low cross is behind the on-rushing Trevor Benjamin. Immediately Colchester win a corner but the overhead shot from the deep cross is wide. This is a fast start. Cambridge already look impressive and a terrific move involving fast, one-touch football sees Clive Wilson on the overlap firing in a cross which just eludes Michael Kyd as he throws himself full length. Trevor Benjamin has a shot saved and the lumbering centre-back David Greene appears to control the ball with his hand in the penalty area. Martin Butler complains to the lino but it was on his blind side. Stick at it, Martin. It already looks as if you're going to have this one for breakfast.
Burton, Greene's centre-back partner, is another in the line of traditional Colchester centre backs who do not stand on ceremony. He gets lectured when he manages to flatten Butler and Kyd at the same time which takes a special talent but Ian Ashbee's free kick is cleared. United look sharper tonight and a ball dropped in to the edge of the area is flicked on by Benjamin but at full stretch Martin Butler cannot direct it on target. Cambridge look like scoring tonight but every man, woman, dog and child in the crowd knows they are almost certain to hand out at least one goal themselves. This nearly happens on 12 minutes as Andy Duncan tries a suicidal back pass. Van Heusden comes out as the danger man Lua-Lua goes for the ball, the ball looping onto the top of the bar to go for a corner.
Already there are two players catching the eye - Neil McKenzie showing excellent ball control skills and vision in midfield whilst up front for Colchester Lomana Tresor Lua-Lua, a 19 year old from Zaire, looks like a player that Colchester will never hang on to. He has pace, commitment, and a phenomenal work rate. Last season he scored a hat trick for Colchester reserves in a match against Cambridge. The fact that he did this in just three minutes is even more impressive. After controlling the opening quarter of an hour Cambridge go behind. In the first real threat of the game, apart from the back pass, the ball is laid to Jason Dozzell who coolly rifles the shot into the corner past Van Heusden's right hand.
Nowadays the first reaction to an opponent's goal is to look at who made a mistake. Perhaps Cambridge have not dealt with the ball effectively when it arrived in the box, but you have to admire the way Dozzell finished it off. Inevitably it is time for "You're not singing any more" from the allotments end. It doesn't take long before it is almost 2-0 with some nonsense from Scott Eustace dithering on the ball instead of belting it away, forcing Van Heusden to take control and do the centre back's job for him by dribbling round Lua-Lua and clearing the danger. Colchester are now carving holes and Arnott cannot finish off a cross that finds him at the far post. Graham Poll lectures keeper Simon Brown for time wasting already. Brown should not be doing that - at this stage it is Colchester with the rhythm.
Trevor Benjamin, reacting well after being dropped last week, tangles with Burton again and Poll tells him to behave. Cambridge gradually take over again and on 28 minutes the equaliser comes. The build up is neat and slick, ended with a great lift over the defence by Scott Paterson for Martin Butler to sweetly chip the advancing keeper. "You're not singing any more" time again but now it is coming from the Newmarket Road end. Still Lua-Lua looks dangerous although he shows a spark of temperament which Poll sensibly deals with by a quiet word in the ear which presumably was "Stop whingeing".
Now Cambridge have equalised they look likely to win the game. This defence is not going to cope with Butler, and both Benjamin and Kyd look on song too. Just after the half-hour Cambridge win three corners in succession and the pressure is only off when Duncan heads wide. Wilson and McKenzie have got control of the left side. A Wilson cross is dropped by Brown then just grabbed in time. "Dodgy keeper, Dodgy keeper". Soon after Martin Butler holds his head in his hands as a shot which looks as if it is going on into the top corner takes a nick of a defender and deflects inches wide. The only danger to Cambridge still comes from mistakes in their own defence and a dreadful mis-kick in the box forces Van Heusden to save from Dozzell.
After 37 minutes Cambridge United are ahead courtesy of a ludicrous own goal. Mackenzie drives it across goal from the left where David Greene, on the edge of the six yard box, wildly slices the ball back over his own keeper and into the net. "We haven't got them all" is the dry comment from a stand season ticket holder. Cambridge really have this game won now. The only way they can lose it is if they chuck it away through carelessness. McFarland knows this and is off his bench screaming his protests at Neil Mustoe as he pointlessly hooks the ball forward to where there is not a Cambridge player within 40 yards. This Lua-Lua looks a good player, running all the time and looking the most likely to get Colchester back in the game. A low drive from him again brings Van Heusden into action. As the half draws to an end Trevor Benjamin is almost put into orbit by Burton eight yards outside the Colchester area. Poll does not book him and you wonder how much more Burton is going to get away with. Scott Paterson's fierce shot goes straight through the wall but Brown is down to save well.
I discuss the half-time situation with a season ticket holder on his way to the tea bar. We agree that Cambridge look like getting more goals but we are also sure that we will hand them another. "It will probably end 4-2" he says, happy at the prospect of that.
The half starts with Lua-Lua shooting and Van Heusden making a casual catch. Mackenzie's cross catches Kyd offside, but Kyd is having a very good game today. The next Mackenzie free kick is met by a cheeky flick by him which is inches wide. Despite the fact that I usually put refs on my list for Room 101 along with slimy objects such undercooked eggs, Michael Portillo and Peterborough supporters, Graham Poll is impressing me. He is on top of everything and you can see him quietly explaining every decision to the players when they complain. He is reffing the game with a smile on his face and the players are responding. After all the dross that we have had to put up with at the Abbey, it makes a pleasant change to have someone in the middle who seems to know what he's doing. It's a pity the same can't be said for his two back-up men on the lines as they continued to infuriate the crowd with a series of dodgy offside decisions.
Kyd then touches the ball to Butler but he cannot get power in his shot. On 54 minutes and totally against the run and play Lua-Lua finds the way through. He wriggles to the by-line and really there should not be a problem as he drives the ball across goal. All it needs is for someone to whack it clear but the ball goes straight through the posse of Cambridge defenders to leave Dozzell with an empty net to side foot into. 2-2, and Colchester are close to doubling the total number of away goals scored all season. Van Heusden is absolutely furious and his two central defenders and Ian Ashbee seem to be at the centre of his wrath. Cambridge have to do it all again, but the difference tonight is that they are playing against a side that they look as if they will cave in.
Trevor Benjamin wins a corner which is cleared to Mackenzie but he almost hits the corner flag with the intended shot. A Duguid shot is easy for Van Heusden although you wonder how he was allowed to get the shot in. The Cambridge passing tonight has been classy. A great ball from Butler finds Kyd on the right and his curling shot-cum- cross just eludes Trevor Benjamin and goes wide. In midfield Mackenzie looks the business, but you still have this nagging doubt on the back of my mind that this is a game that can go either way. The next sweeping pass is from Paterson - another on who is impressing - to get Michael Kyd in again, and the keeper goes down save though you can't help thinking that Kyd should have done better. A packed Colchester defence are trying desperately to close the options quickly and make the front runners run into trouble.
With 20 minutes left Gregory hooks a shot over the United bar and Scott Eustace limps off to be replaced by Marc Joseph. Three minutes later United are back in the lead. In a bout of pinball defending the keeper brilliantly stops a Michael Kyd shot with his legs but the ball breaks to Trevor Benjamin to smash in. 3-2 and now you have to wonder how many goals Cambridge will get. Michael Kyd heads straight into the keeper's midriff from another Mackenzie free kick, and for once when we get a set piece we are not missing Alex Russell's invention and skill. With ten minutes left a cutback by Lua-Lua is belted into touch by Marc Joseph, not very pretty but something we haven't been doing enough of recently. Nobody has ever scored retrieving the ball from the stands and this game is not over yet.
Neil Mustoe, who has done a lot of running without being as effective as the other midfielders, fires in his first shot of the game. Brown flies through the air to make a superb one-handed save and then brilliantly blocks Benjamin's follow up. He is saving Colchester from a cricket score. Michael Kyd continues to look more committed and interested than he has been for ages. He runs himself out and goes off to an ovation six minutes from time, John Taylor replacing him. Immediately the fourth goal arrives. Trevor Benjamin goes on a tremendous burst straight down the middle to crash a shot against the post, the predator Butler on hand to finish it off. The serenade is now "We can see you sneaking out" and then for a change "Walking in a Butler Wonderland".
Burton gets injured and as he dramatically limps off, milking it all away, Neil Mackenzie get booked. As far as I am concerned it serves Burton right. He's been handing it out all night and this is a case of the biter getting bit. With just over a minute to Martin Butler collects his hat trick. If you think there is a soft underbelly right down the middle of the Cambridge United defence, you really should have a look at this lot from Colchester. There is no underbelly at all. Martin Butler races through the middle and like Benjamin before him, drives the ball against the inside of the post but this time it rebounds along the line and in at the far post for his hat-trick. Rudely the Newmarket Road end ask the Colchester fans why they are still there and open up with the chant of "We want Six" and the board is held up for just 1 extra minute.
In this minute we almost see Goal of the Season. Trevor Benjamin picks up the ball just inside the Cambridge half and set off on one of those marauding runs of the sort we have seen too little of lately. It is an awesome sight as he smashes his way through four defenders all trying to get a bite at him, drawing the keeper, only to shoot wide with the net gaping. So nearly the crowning glory. Martin Butler gets booked in the last action of the game and then it's 'Coconuts' time.
Roy McFarland confirms that the Butler hat trick has been seen by what he calls "a posse" of Premier and First Division scouts. "I don't want them to get their man," he says more in hope than expectation. "We need Martin to lead us away from the relegation area…. He had another great game, and there probably will be some more interest in him, as there is likely to be in some other players after a very good performance".
McFarland says that they showed "great character" after Colchester equalised early in the second half. Butler himself praises the midfield, saying "Neil Mackenzie came straight in and gave us something, and Scott Paterson's pass which I was lucky enough to get on the end of was brilliant." He also praises his fellow strikers with "Michael Kyd came back in and made some tremendous runs, and Trevor Benjamin was at his best again. If he had got that goal just before the final whistle that would have been one of the goals of the season."
As he is saying this, I am talking to Reg Smart who looks a happy man. "Trevor nearly iced the cake," I say, to which Reg replies "That's the strength. The boy is so strong." He has also been impressed with the immediate understanding between Clive Wilson and Neil Mackenzie, and though he does not say so, he must think what he saw tonight suggests that the money has been well spent. The verdicts afterwards from the fans are interesting too. Everyone has been pleased with Kyd and Benjamin and there is real optimism about the impact of Mackenzie. One shrewd comment is that we missed Paul Wanless in the penalty area at attacking set pieces. Because he works so hard middle of the park, one tends to forget the amount of stuff that he gets on to on packed penalty areas where no one is braver. Others have been impressed with Lua-Lua. "Can you imagine him in the Premier with some good players round him?" I am asked rhetorically.
Today has been a springboard but no more than that. Colchester have got doom and gloom written all over them. "I think we've seen a side that going down tonight," I say to one fan, but he replies "But which one?". He has a point. Cambridge United have now scored more goals than any other side in this division, but only bottom rock bottom Colchester have conceded more. "If your side could defend, you'd be top of the table now" one neutral tells me. Now Cambridge have a chance to consolidate with a visit from Burnley on Tuesday night. That's a side that looks likely to be in the running at the end of the season, and everybody knows that will be a much tougher test. But at least the dismal spell has been broken.
Cambridge United recorded only their second victory of the season, and ended a tortuous ten games winless streak by slaughtering local rivals Colchester United at the electric Abbey Stadium. A second half tidal wave of ruthless attacking football left the unfortunate visitors in a sodden and pitiable wreck, cowering on the Abbey Stadium turf begging for the punishment to stop.
The game lacked confident or coherent defending from either side; it was always going to come down to who had the guns, the bullets and ultimatly the bottle to use them. United started well, passing the ball around with a penetrative and accurate confidence. Trevor Benjamin was causing the visitors problems down the left flank, whist new signing Neil Mackenzie along with Scott Patterson and Neil Mustoe had the Colchester midfield not so much under control, but in submission.
It was all going swimmingly, so I suppose the time was about right for the largest crowd of the season to be reminded exactly why Cambridge United entered the fixture bottom of Division Two, with just one win to their name. The Colchester 'big guns' up front had been shouting at their midfield for service, but it seemed to have a subliminal effect on the United defenders who hit the self-destruct button. Andy Duncan made a woeful error just before the quarter hour mark as his attempted back pass to Van Huesden turned into a glorious through ball for the exotically named Lomana Tresor Laulau. Fortunately for the out of form defender Van Heusden performed a stunning save to push the shot from the teenage Zairian onto the bar and behind for a corner.
That mistake visibly altered the pattern of the game, and Colchester took full advantage when former Norwich star Jason Dozzell gave them the lead on 17 minutes. He latched onto a Karl Duguid pass inside the box, skipped around a clumsy Scott Eustace challenge and struck the ball low into the bottom right hand corner of the net. For the next 10 minutes Cambridge were on the back foot. Scott Eustace made a terrible mistake inside the six yard box when, with time to clear the ball, he stroked it straight into the path of Dozzell who watched his shot blocked by a defender. I certainly hope the sniggering expression on Scott Eustace's face as he run up field was a nervous reaction, as elementary and careless mistakes such as that are far from amusing and need to be eliminated and not laughed about.
United emerged from this spell of defensive woe, from which the Colchester frontline were feeding, and drew level just before the half-hour. Trevor Benjamin found Scott Patterson on the edge of the box and his neat chip over the defence was exquisitely dispatched by Martin Butler. The perfect tonic. For the rest of the half United started to fizz like they had at the beginning of the encounter.
Defensively Scott Eustace was still looking suspect, and presented Lualua with another opportunity on 32 minutes, but the United midfield were looking both combative and creative and took control of the game. Scott Patterson was spraying accurate passes around like perfume in a massage parlour while new signing Neil Mackenzie was always first to the ball and hungry to spy the right pass. It was his play that forced a contender for own goal of the season on 37 minutes, and gave United a half time lead. David Green was described in the programme as "a rock at the back and a pillar of strength", not perhaps the words the 912 Colchester fans would have chosen moments after he sliced Mackenzie's 37th minute cross spectacularly into the roof of his own net.
The second half started well for the home side, and they looked most likely to extend their lead. Michael Kyd started to come to life down the right flank, and on 49 minutes skipped past Joe Keith before chipping the ball to the far post where Trevor Benjamin was inches away from connecting.
Colchester did not lie down and die though, well not yet anyway. The lively Laulau started to find some joy up front as the defenders realised that as they were losing the midfield battle, the high ball over the top was the only way forward. On 54 minutes Laulau latched onto one of these guided missiles down the right flank and danced past two defenders before putting the ball on a plate for Jason Dozzell to tap in at the far post. That was Dozzell's 99th league goal of his career and he and the Colchester fans sensed that the scene was set for him to score his 100th by notching a hat trick in a local derby ... but the script thankfully took one final and decisive twist.
Cambridge United turned on Colchester like a wounded animal, tearing at them with such a degree of frantic urgency that they must have wondered what they had done to deserve it. Sweeping attacks led by rejuvenated Michael Kyd, bullish Trevor Benjamin and elegant Martin Butler were being made possible through the quite magnificent play of Scott Patterson who performed like a man possessed. The Colchester defence might not have been the strongest of units to dismantle, but United didn't simply dismantle it, they shattered it into a thousand different pieces.
United took the lead again on 74 minutes after Michael Kyd teased his way into the box before watching his shot hit a defender and rebound to Neil Mustoe. He fed the ball into the path of Trevor Benjamin who smashed it home from 8 yards.
After this, Colchester offered little resistance and were just waiting to be finished off. United were in a ruthless mood, so that was no problem. The topsy-turvy encounter was finally laid to rest when Martin Butler helped himself to his second and third goals of the match on 85 and 88 minutes respectively. The second was a simple tap in after Trevor Benjamin's shot had hit the post, but the third was elegance and accuracy personified. Once again Scott Patterson's ball found him and after taking the ball into the box, and shrugging off two Colchester defenders in the process, he stroked the ball past the keeper and watched as it went in off the post to register only the second hat trick of his career.
That, if you have lost count, made the score 5-2. The best was still to come…or so we all thought. Trevor Benjamin picked the ball up 40 yards from goal in the last minute and bulldozed his way through what seemed like the entire Colchester team using a combination of pace, skill and devastating power. Unfortunately what would have been one of the greatest goals ever seen at the Abbey Stadium failed to materialise as his final shot grazed the wrong side of the post.
Shortly after referee Graham Poll indicated full time, and Roy McFarland raced to the press box to purr about his teams performance. We defeated a side who are in this division on merit, and have held their own here for some time. They didn't arrive here by accident, and produced a better standard of football than many of the teams we have failed to defeat so far this season. We must not get carried away with this win however, but the confidence it will install into the team might be priceless. I was starting to forget what this team was capable of doing, and I suspect they were as well.
"We need to kick start our season" stated Roy McFarland in midweek. Let's hope and pray this performance and result will have the desired effect.
Man of the match: Scott Patterson unlocked the Colchester defence with consistently accurate and penetrating passing. He was a combative force in a very effective midfield unit where both Mustoe and Mackenzie looked at home, but where he looked a different class.
MARTIN Butler made it 11 goals in 14 games, hammering a hat-trick to end Cambridge United's 10-match search for victory, in a pulsating East Anglian derby.
But it was what he saw, as much as what he did, which eased the fans' fears that their team might be out of their depth in Division Two.
"We played some great football," said the striker. "I enjoyed watching it as much as the supporters must have. The three lads in midfield put us on top. Neil Mackenzie came straight in and gave us something, and Scott Paterson's pass which I was lucky enough to get on the end of for the first goal was brilliant.
"Michael Kyd came back in and made some tremendous runs, and Trevor Benjamin was at his best again. If he'd have got that goal just before the whistle it would have been one of the goals of the season. We all knew we could do it, and this result will have done everybody a lot of good.
"When Colchester equalised early in the second half I thought, 'here we go again,' but this time we kept our heads and took them apart at the end."
There was a depth to the display of Roy McFarland's radically re-arranged team which suggested the much-needed victory was more than a one-off against a Colchester side who, after all, are bottom of the table, having now conceded 26 goals in eight games.
Defensive frailty still produces some scary moments, the experience of Jason Dozzell and skill of Lomana Lualua, sometimes as silky-looking as he sounds, exposed naivety and uncertainty at times. But the midfield display was light years away from the stumbling, pedestrian performance at Wycombe.
New signing Neil Mackenzie, from Stoke, had to take the occasional short breather in his first full League match of the season, but supplied some of the class and cunning desperately necessary at this level. Scott Paterson stepped up his game as his match fitness increased, and what appeared to be a stop-gap signing of a hopeful trialist may have taken on much greater importance.
His passing, allied to that of Mackenzie, brought the best out of youngsters, Trevor Benjamin and "born again" Michael Kyd, as well as giving Butler the bullets he fired with such power and precision.
It would hardly have been an Abbey outing, however, if the vastly-improved showing was not punctuated by slips and scares. It was Colchester who got the boost of the early goal on a night crackling with tension, and it might have been a very different game if Andy Arnott had not made the most of a Lualua cross three minutes after Dozzell's 17th-minute score.
A quality goal in the 29th minute steadied United, and a comical one eight minutes later rocked the visitors, who saw an own goal fly high into their net. It was all set for the cavalry charge towards the Corona Kop after the break, but Colchester initially rejected their submissive role in the drama by hitting back with a well-worked 54th- minute equaliser.
For a while they were not singing much "over there," as almost 1,000 Essex men and women in the Abbey's biggest League crowd of the season pointed out. There was a quarter of an hour when a draw looked the most likely result, until Kyd and Benjamin began to stretch the Colchester defence in some penetrating raids. They almost broke the deadlock when they combined in one attack, but Kyd fired a little too early and Benjamin fumbled the follow-up.
United were beginning to pin Colchester in, however, and the third goal, with 16 minutes to go, looked inevitable, even if it did have visiting manager Steve Whitton screaming "offside."
That opened the floodgates. Colchester had no choice but to push forward in an effort to salvage something, and that left them as vulnerable as lambs circled by wolves as United's front three went for the throat. Butler burst through twice to complete the second hat-trick of his career, but being a modest man and selfless striker, might even have sacrificed a goal to see Benjamin make it 6-2 in injury time.
"That would have been a terrific goal," he said. "I'd loved to have seen that go in. It was a brilliant run by Trevor."
The huge striker thundered towards goal, but his charge was as clever as it was bullish. Three defenders were left wondering what kind of train could side-step as well as travel that fast, but with goalkeeper Simon Brown at his mercy and the kop already saluting a great goal, Benjamin somehow sliced the ball past the post from eight yards.
The only question at the end of the entertainment concerned the quality of the opposition, but that could be answered very shortly, when a presumably much-better Burnley side take over the visitors' changing room in three days' time.
Report © Cambridge Newspapers
Ltd
Graham Nurse's match report
Will Jones' match report
From a desperate desert of despair emerged a colourful oasis of hope. Thankfully, unlike so many times already this season, the three points didn't suddenly slip through our fingers like a sandy, disheartening mirage.
Arjan Van Heusden - 73% (7)
Ian Ashbee - 73% (7)
Neil Mustoe - 82% (8)
Andy Duncan - 54% (5)
Scott Eustace - 49% (5)
Clive Wilson - 72% (7)
Scott Paterson - 94% (9) (mom)
Neil Mackenzie - 83% (8)
Martin Butler - 93% (9)
Trevor Benjamin - 89% (9)
Michael Kyd - 78% (8)
Cambridge Evening News match report
Reporter Mark Johnson highlighted the new look midfield as the key to the win tonight, pointing to Paterson's skill in the holding position, Mustoe's running and Mackenzie's class as an ideal combination, but stressed that there was still a worrying lack of solid defending.
Unexpected team changes for tonight's game (they were to me 'cos I didn't read the days Moosenet emails until after the game!).