Nationwide League Division Two - Saturday 25th September, 1999
Cambridge United (4-3-3): Van Heusden, Ashbee, Duncan, Joseph, Cassidy; Wanless, Paterson, Mustoe; Byfield (Taylor 78'), Butler, Benjamin (Kyd 86').
Gillingham (5-3-2): Bartram, Ashby, Saunders, Pennock, Patterson, Southall; Smith, Hessenthaler, Lewis; Taylor (Butters 63'), Thomson (Lee 85').
Shots on target: United 2 Gills 5
Referee: Graham Barber (Tring) |
United survived Gillingham's first half onslaught and scored twice in an eventful second half, but finished with one point and ten men as the defensive frailties and ineffective offside trap came to the fore again. Like last week, Arjan Van Heusden was United's hero with a series of vital saves. Ben Chenery missed out with the injury suffered at Millwall last weekend, meaning that yesterday's non-contract signing Scott Paterson went straight into the side. Neil Mustoe passed his fitness test and started on the left of midfield with Paul Wanless on the right and Paterson in the middle. The versatile Ian Ashbee was moved to right back in place of Chenery. The game got off to a lively start with United's reshuffled defence looking edgy. Bob Taylor's first minute cross was collected at full stretch by Arjan Van Heusden, and then at the other end Butler's flick-on was caught by Bartram whose feet were in the area but his hands and the ball were outside. The referee's assistant was in line with the incident and saw nothing wrong. After four minutes Smith robbed Marc Joseph and found Taylor whose shot was well saved by Van Heusden, and moments later Hessenthaler's cross was met by Southall, he found Saunders who blazed over from eight yards. United countered with a seventh minute Neil Mustoe corner which Paul Wanless met with a powerful header that hit the bar and went over. Paul Smith's deep free kick in the 10th minute found Taylor who eluded the back-tracking Jamie Cassidy before crossing to Andy Thomson who fired over from six yards. Five minutes later a flowing Gills move ended with a rasping drive from wing-back Southall which was punched away by Van Heusden. United carved out a rare chance in the 20th minute when Andy Duncan picked out Trevor Benjamin, his little knock-down was placed for Martin Butler but the top scorer's shot on the turn was tame by the time it was deflected to Bartram. After their early pressure it came as no great surprise that Gillingham took the lead in the 27th minute, but United had failed to heed the warning issued a minute earlier when Thomson beat the dodgy offside trap. The striker scampered into the area with only Van Heusden to beat, but the giant Dutchman forced him wide and blocked not only the shot but also the follow-up from the rebound. However a minute later Thomson again sprung the offside trap to go one on one with Van Heusden, he produced another great save to deny Thomson but the ball was parried to Taylor, the third man in the area, and he made no mistake in front of the gaping goal. Gillingham could have extended their lead on the half-hour when Taylor turned Joseph with ease before sending a curling shot just wide, but as the half wound down United showed a few signs of promise in Gillingham's half. In the 37th minute Scott Paterson's curling shot from 22 yards was touched around the post, and the resulting corner kick was headed over the bar by Duncan. Then Cassidy's 44th minute cross was met by Wanless who headed it across goal but Martin Butler just failed to make contact. In stoppage time Cassidy threaded the ball to Darren Byfield who jinked away from a couple of defenders in the box before firing in a shot that seemed to be going in until Southall appeared to clear it off the line. Perhaps with the impending half-time team talk in their minds, United ended the half looking much more dangerous but were fortunate not to be trailing by three or four goals - and yet on another day it could have been 1-1 at the break. (Half-time 0-1) United's offside trap remained ineffective after the break and just 34 seconds into the second half Mark Patterson sent the ball over to Taylor who again breached the back line and fired a shot just wide from 25 yards. In the 49th minute Ian Ashbee's deep free kick was met by Wanless but he headed just wide, then it was Gillingham's turn again as Taylor found Thomson. The striker slipped the offside trap once more to go one on one with Van Heusden, but instead of blasting a shot he lifted the ball over the 'keeper and onto the bar, Then the game took some dramatic twists and turns at the hands of Premiership referee Graham Barber, taking charge of one of his required allocation of Nationwide matches. In the 61st minute Neil Mustoe's thumping drive beat Bartram but defender Mark Saunders clearly punched it clear. He and his teammates protested furiously but he was giving his marching orders and Martin Butler stepped up to rifle the ball to the right as Bartram dived to the left. Defender Guy Butters replaced Taylor straight after the goal. It got unbelievably better for the Us just two minutes later when Cassidy's free kick found Paul Wanless at the far post and United's skipper headed the ball back across the face of goal and inside the opposite post. But then came an eventful few minutes when Mustoe and Butler were both booked for fouls within a minute of each other, and in the 69th minute the defence failed to deal properly with a free kick and substitute Butters fired home the loose ball from just inside the box. It got worse for United as Neil Mustoe's frustration came to the fore in the 71st minute. Just four minutes after being booked he got into a wrestling match with Lewis and, perhaps harshly, received his second yellow card followed by a red. John Taylor replaced Byfield in the 78th minute. Gillingham finished in the ascendancy and Van Heusden preserved the points with a couple of vital late saves. The first came with six minutes left when Southall's good ball found Hessenthaler and the Gills midfielder drew Van Heusden who produced a great save with his feet. Michael Kyd replaced Benjamin in the 86th minute, then with two minutes remaining Lewis ghosted past two defenders in the area and his shot from an acute angle was touched onto the bar by the Dutchman.
Reporter Mark Johnson again had no hesitation in naming Arjan Van Heusden as his man of the match this week: "He kept us in with a chance when we should have been dead and buried before we scored, and won his personal duel with Andy Thomson. Scott Paterson looked understandably short of match practice and fitness but showed some good signs as a deep-lying midfielder operating just in front of the back four.
RESULTS AND ATTENDANCES ON 25/09/99
AFC Bournemouth 1-1 Bury 4,208
Blackpool 1-2 Wycombe Wanderers 3,452
Brentford 2-2 Preston North End 7,100
Bristol City 0-0 Burnley 11,510
Cambridge United 2-2 Gillingham 4,708
Cardiff City 0-0 Wigan Athletic 7,679
Luton Town 4-2 Oxford United 6,102
Millwall 1-0 Colchester United 7,161
Notts County 0-2 Bristol Rovers 6,197
Reading 1-1 Oldham Athletic 7,274
Scunthorpe United 0-0 Chesterfield 4,321
Wrexham 2-3 Stoke City 5,924
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Van Heusden had to make the first of many saves within the first minute, diving to cut out a cross. A couple of minutes later Joseph dallied with the ball at the edge of the penalty area, lost possession and Van Heusden had to save. From the resulting corner the ball came to a forward who missed from about 6 yards. We managed a corner after 6 minutes, which Wanless headed onto the top of the crossbar, but this was only a short respite before Van Heusden was called upon to fist away a blockbuster shot. Butler managed a weak shot on the turn after 19 minutes which was easily saved. As always the ball over the top caused problems, on 24 minutes the offside trap was beaten (although I thought it was offside, perhaps someone watching from the Habbin would comment) and Van Heusden made a double save from the one on one situation. A minute later there was a repeat, Van Heusden saved the first shot but the rebound fell kindly to a forward about 8 yards out for Gillingham to take the lead, despite the best attempts of Ashbee to cover the goal. On 33 minutes Byfield crossed (about the first thing he'd done in the game), Benjamin headed back, Paterson tried to place the ball just inside the post (with about his first forward pass) but the 'keeper just got a hand to the ball to push it away for a corner, from which Duncan headed over. In the dying seconds of the half Benjamin beat his defender, cut inside and went across another defender, shot past the 'keeper only to find a defender on the line who cleared the ball. Only one down at half time, it could have been 5 or 6. The second half started like the first, Gilllingham put the ball over our defenders (I can't really call it a defence), the player running on volleyed just wide. A few minutes later Duncan was slow to turn and track back allowing a forward a chance from which they hit the bar, the rebound fell to Joseph who had plenty of time to control and take the ball away but instead chose to boot the ball into the allotments for a corner which kept the pressure on unnecessarily. We then started our good patch, a bit of play around the edge of their penalty area gave Mustoe a shooting chance which he took, his shot beat the 'keeper, but was handled on the goal line by a defender who was then sent off. The referee didn't have a clear view, but looked to the linesman who signalled the offence. Butler put away the penalty with ease to make the score 1-1 after 14 minutes. From a free kick by the touchline on our right, the cross was headed on by a defender which fell nicely for Wanless at the back post to power a header across the 'keeper and in to give us the lead. That completed our good spell. Mustoe got booked for obstruction, then Butler for a foul. From the free kick the ball was not cleared properly and a shot went into the corner of the goal with Van Heusden unsighted to equalise. Soon after Mustoe got his second booking and off he went to equalise the number of players on each side. Taylor came on for Byfield, later Kyd for Benjamin. In the final minutes Van Heusden had to make a save to keep out a header. Ashbee was the only outfield player who had any real idea of what he should be doing, although Butler, Benjamin and Mustoe at least looked as if they were interested. Cassidy is not a full back, he's too lightweight, not much good at marking and looks slow. When he did get a chance to push forward he crossed the ball reasonably well, but when he got into their penalty area in the second half he beat a couple of players then lost possession when he bottled out as he was challenged. Paterson lived up to the expectations from what has been said on Moosenet in that he is a slow lumbering midfielder. Apart from the one shooting chance his passes to our players were always sideways, if he tried a forward pass it went to a Gillingham player. Wanless tried hard but looked out of his depth. Byfield looked OK occasionally, but for most of the game he was anonymous. Of the central defenders Joseph did marginally better than Duncan, but neither inspire confidence when the ball is in the air. Duncan in particular has a habit of heading straight up into the air when unchallenged, instead of getting any distance. Van Heusden is just edged out of MoM by Ian Ashbee who had another fine game, especially as he was playing out of position at full back. Interestingly, for much of the second half it looked as if David Preece was going to come on. I would have liked to see him replace Paterson, even with a zimmer frame he couldn't have done any worse. If we continue to play like this we will be relegated by Christmas. In my opinion we only had 9 players wanting to play today, and against a strong Gillingham side that just is not good enough. In the main we were slow to react and lost (or gave away) possession far too easily. Again the defending of the outfield players as a whole was poor, and until that is sorted out we will continue to concede silly goals and lose points. At least today we only needed to score twice instead of 3 times to get a point! Terry Wilby. |
"Red
mist - Red card"
This is another
of those fixtures that Cambridge United really ought to win. Gillingham
have had an indifferent start after so nearly making Division One last season.
Board room rumblings are rumoured to have been behind the departure of manager
Tony Pulis. His replacement is Peter Taylor, the ex England Under 21 manager,
himself ridiculously sacked after producing an outstanding national side.
There is
a reasonable sized crowd today on a showery but sunny day, including Ken
Brown the ex Norwich City manager. After the cave in at Millwall there are
changes in the Cambridge side, but only due to injury. Ben Chenery has not
recovered from a knock and Ian Ashbee moves to right-back, his place in
central midfield going to Scott Paterson who was signed on a non- contract
terms yesterday. In midfield Neil Mustoe passes a late fitness test so it
is not necessary to drag the old bones of David Preece onto the pitch as
Roy McFarland has hinted he might have to do.
Gillingham
kick off towards the Newmarket Road End. In the first minute the tall danger
man Bob Taylor - who they have shelled out half a million for from Brentford
- gets goal side of Marc Joseph. He curls it in but Van Heusden, who has
far too often had to be United's saviour of late, flies through the air
for a confidence boosting catch. Taylor looks busy and another cross is
cleared by a fine piece of sweeping up from Ian Ashbee, the decisive defending
earning cheers from fans who have seen too much Mickey Mouse defending of
late. Southall shoots wide from a distance, and Ashbee is there again to
cover Taylor.
After 4 minutes
Van Heusden saves the day when Marc Joseph is caught in possession by Taylor,
the big Dutchman standing tall to block for a corner. From this Southall
miskicks to centre back Saunders who belts a great chance into the terraces.
The Gillingham fans are already singing, and well they might be as already
the infamous Cambridge defence is being caught out. Benjamin wins the first
Cambridge corner after 7 minutes but when Neil Mustoe knocks it in, Paul
Wanless thumps the header onto the bar and over. Two minutes later a free
kick gets Taylor to the byline. He crosses for Thomson to get in front of
the defenders, only to clear the bar from the edge of the 6 yard box.
The Gillingham
management have obviously done on their homework and the dangerous diagonal
ball over the top sees Marc Joseph only just win the battle. Little is being
seen of Cambridge in attack, perhaps because the midfield look half fit
to me. Just before the quarter hour a crashing low drive by Southall is
kept out by a blinding save from Van Heusden. Mac is being proved right.
I called for his head in the past but this guy is now showing he sure is
a shot stopper. It's just a pity he keeps getting the chance to prove it.
Anxious Cambridge
constantly give the ball away and we have to wait until 19 minutes for Butler
to call the keeper into action, his weak shot causing no problems. The United
cause is not being helped by again having a dodgy lino. Thomson is a mile
offside but to screams of protest from the main stand he is allowed to race
through, only a tremendous double block by Van Heusden keeping him out.
A minute later the ball over the top puts Thomson through again. Van Heusden
once more makes the one-on-one save but this time the ball rebounds to Taylor
who raps it into the net. Here we go again. It's all gone quiet over there.
Taylor turns
Marc Joseph again on the half hour but curls the shot high and wide. Still
the service from the Cambridge midfield is non-existent and in any case
every time Trevor Benjamin get the ball referee penalises him. Inconsistently
he is allowing the niggling Hessenthaler to get away with all sorts of little
nudges and elbows. The blond haired Adrian Pennock gets the first yellow
card as he tumbles Butler over but the free-kick is easily cleared. On 35
minutes Darren Byfield, who has seen little of the ball, beats two men to
fire in a deep cross. Trevor Benjamin's header is cleared out to Paterson
whose shot forces the keeper to scramble across and turn it round.
As Cambridge
press with real conviction for the first time, firm defending holds them
out until Gillingham can make a dangerous break, but Neil Mustoe gets back
to cover. To ironic cheers referee Graham Barber decides to penalise Barry
Ashby for pushing Benjamin. The free kick is 10 yards outside the area,
but of course there is no Alex Russell - so badly missed of late. The ball
is touched to Ashbee whose shot hits the netting to keep the ball out of
the allotment. The Gillingham fans rudely ask to be told what that was all
about.
United go
close a minute before the break as Cassidy's left wing cross finds Wanless
at the far post but his header flies across the goal and wide. In added
time Butler's cross is calmly chested to the keeper by Ashby. Just before
the whistle Byfield brilliantly beats two men in just a couple of yards
but hesitates and allows his final shot to be blocked on the line.
At the restart
it takes just 32 seconds for Gillingham to lift the ball over the top to
Bob Taylor. For once the shot beats Van Heusden and but fortunately for
United it flashes wide. Seconds later an identical pass gets Hessenthaler
to the byline but he wastes the cross. Oh my God, how many are they going
to score if they keep knocking that ball in? Wanless put his header over
from a free-kick in the first Cambridge attack of the half and they look
dangerous now with Ian Ashbee pushing forward. After 50 minutes the Newmarket
Road end are calling for Shaggy. Byfield wins another corner but all ten
blue shirts are back to defend.
After 53 minutes
United are all at sea again as Duncan is caught pushed up and ball watching.
For the umpteenth time Thomson is through one-on-one with Van Heusden. This
time he goes for the chip but the ball comes back of the bar and Joseph
belts high over his own goal in what seems to be little short of panic.
After half hearted Cambridge appeals for a penalty, Benjamin and Bob Taylor
kiss and make up as the referee calls them over for a lecture following
a little byline tussle it would not look at place in a primary school playground.
Suddenly,
just after the hour, the game erupts. Mustoe crashes in a shot which is
spectacularly punched over the bar by Mark Saunders. The referee instantly
points to the spot and just as quickly takes out the red card, despite the
desperate pretense by Saunders that he has headed the ball. If he had, his
head would now be lying in the back of the net. The decision causes mayhem,
with several players from both sides lectured by Premier referee Graham
Barber. Butler waits patiently for nearly two minutes before stepping up
to send the keeper the wrong way. 1-1, and 10 men Gillingham immediately
pull off striker Taylor to bring on defender Gary Butters.
It is plainly
"shut up shop" time but two minutes later United are in the lead.
Ian Ashbee's free-kick to the far post is met by a beautifully placed header
by Paul Wanless. What a turnaround! The game is now pulsating and on 66
minutes Mustoe is booked for a foul 7 yards outside the Cambridge area,
the intricate free-kick deflected for a corner. As this is cleared Hessenthaler
dramatically swan dives over a Martin Butler tackle. Butler's reaction shows
he thinks Hessenthaler is cheating but the ref flashes the yellow card.
With 68 minutes
gone 11 man Cambridge United fail to defend the free-kick from 10 man Gillingham.
It bobbles about until cleared to Butters who slams it straight back into
the net. 2-2 but the drama is not yet over. Two minutes later Neil Mustoe
stupidly and unnecessarily tangles with Junior Lewis just outside the left-hand
corner of the area. Lewis wasn't going anywhere and to do this 4 minutes
after being booked, is sheer madness. Barber inevitably and quite correctly
sends Mustoe packing and with him goes any hope of Cambridge winning this
game. Gillingham can't believe their luck and are now in full cry both on
and off the pitch. "You're not singing any more". Too true. It's
hard to sing when you see your side chucking the points away through sheer
indiscipline.
The Gillingham
supporters bay for a penalty as on 73 minutes Marc Joseph at last produces
the goods, a magnificent tackle winning the ball inside the penalty area
as Thomson almost get through again. Gillingham have toughed it out and
are now full of confidence. With 12 minutes left Darren Byfield is replaced
by John Taylor as an Ian Ashbee pot shot hits the top of the Newmarket Road
stand. Jamie Cassidy, who has not lived up to his promise of late, loses
patience and is miles off target from 35 yards. Then, as we haven't almost
given them a goal lately, the defence are caught out with another ball over
the top. Van Heusden races out of the area to head the ball then attack
it again 35 yards from goal to clear. We all hope the centre-backs have
been watching him do that.
Cambridge
are still hoping to sneak the game as Butler beats two men but crosses straight
to the keeper, but yet again Van Heusden has to race out to fly kick as
full-back Paul Smith makes a mockery of the offside trap yet again. Van
Heusden will be exhausted at the end of this game. He has spent the entire
afternoon racing out of his goal to block onrushing opponents. With six
minutes to go he has to do it again at the last ditch, then as the three
minutes extra time board is held up, Junior Lewis beats three men in the
box. Again Van Heusden shuts down the options, forcing him to hammer against
the post from a narrow angle. Jamie Cassidy beats his man but failed to
deliver, and in the final threat Marc Joseph flicks his header across goal
as a cross means more trouble for the defence.
"We have
given away two stupid free kicks on the edge of the box and they scored
from one" complains McFarland. "Basically poor defending has again
let us down. They hit us on the break several times…. it's worrying at the
moment the way we are defending."
He is "very,
very pleased with Scott Paterson although he has not been match fit"
and also praises Ian Ashbee at right back, claiming that there have been
one or two plusses from this game. When asked what his reaction is to Neil
Mustoe's sending off, McFarland says, "He maybe should have done better
in that situation. Mussy should have held his ground ... he was a little
unfortunate to get sent off but should not have done that after what happened
two minutes earlier."
McFarland
complains that Cambridge are not controlling games and once more is not
afraid to signal out individuals who have made mistakes. "Jamie Cassidy
disappointed me today," he says. "His decision making was very
poor."
Hinting that
he needs an injection of new blood to lift his faltering side, the manager
says, "I can't fault the effort. It's our decision making and concentration
that is the problem. We have to learn to concentrate when we have the ball.
It's easy to concentrate when they have it ... we should have dealt with
balls into channels and over the top much better."
Arjan Van
Heusden has once more, and quite rightly, been named Man of the Match, and
the only challenger for the accolade has been the stand-in right-back Ian
Ashbee who has done well today, but his presence in midfield has been missed.
Take out the guile of Russell and the bite of Ashbee and this midfield looks
very ordinary - Paul Wanless cannot be expected to carry all the burden
on his ever-willing broad shoulders.
It is now
just seven points from nine games, and already United are getting sucked
in to the "struggling to survive" battle. In the next month United
face difficult away matches against sides who must relish the prospect of
getting at a defence that always concede two goals a game. Things are not
good.
Cambridge threw away the lead
again at the Abbey Stadium having fought back from a goal down with two
goals in four minutes early in the second half.
Gillingham ripped through
the Cambridge defence in the first half squandering a series of chances
and having to be content with a 26 minute goal from Bob Taylor.
Cambridge were heartened
by Darren Byfield having a shot cleared off the line just before the break,
then rocked Gillingham with a 60th minute penalty, converted by Martin Butler
for hand ball by Mark Saunders, then with a 64th minute header from Paul
Wanless which put them ahead.
But despite being reduced
to 10 men after Saunders was sent off for the handball Gillingham clawed
their way back in the 69th minute when Guy Butters took advantage of some
typically sloppy defending.
Cambridge had a man sent
off in the 71st minute when Neil Mustow was booked for his second foul of
the game and were lucky to preserve a point in the dying minutes when their
man-of-the-match goalkeeper Rajan van Husden pulled off two brilliant saves
from Andy Thomson and Andy Hessenthaler.
Report © Soccernet
ROY McFarland should keep his players in after training one day this
week and demand they watch the video.
Not of the latest Abbey
error show, but the brilliant time loop comedy Groundhog Day. It
might help him get it through to them they are continually playing the same
precarious game and making similar elementary errors week after week.
In the film, Bill Murray
found himself waking up each day on the same day. He was locked into a nightmare
of repetition. But
eventually he learned from his mistakes. He stopped stepping into the same
puddle, discovered how to deal with an embarrassing old friend, and learned
to play (the piano).
Cambridge United, it
seems, learn nothing from an entirely predictable pattern which at first
appeared to be remarkably coincidental, then became a little eerie, and
now is downright scarey.
True, there was more
action than usual in the first half, but it was more of the same, the opposition
scampering virtually unopposed through a slow-thinking, leaden-footed defence
to set up a series of one-on-ones with perpetual hero Arjan Van Heuseden.
The goalkeeper kept
the damage down to just one goal as the game moved through its other, oh
so familiar, stages. Five
minutes before the break is revival time, as though an alarm goes off in
a chip implanted in every United brain.
This week's near miss
was supplied by Darren Byfield, the Aston Villa loanee, who brilliantly
weaved his way into the box to blast a shot which whistled past the keeper
but was blocked on the goal line by defender Nicky Southall.
While McFarland delivered
what must have been his usual team talk at half time I said half-jokingly
to the man from the Kent Messenger: "It's always like this,
Cambridge will probably equalise early in the second half with a Butler
penalty, pile on some pressure and take the lead. But then they are more
than likely to throw it away."
Midway through the second
half he asked me to suggest some Lottery numbers, after Martin Butler buried
his third penalty in consecutive games, Paul Wanless headed United in front
and Gillingham were handed a comical equaliser.
Just as at Millwall
the previous week United, outplayed, often outclassed and thankful for Van
Huesden for keeping them in the match, somehow took an unlikely lead only
to lose it within five minutes. But
this time they did it while in control, playing their favourite way at home
and against opponents reduced to 10 men by Andy Saunders' sending off for
the handball offence which produced the penalty.
A couple of minutes
after the equaliser, the teams were also level in numbers when Neil Mustoe
rashly and foolishly got himself sent off. Booked
in the 67th minute for a foul, the midfielder already served with a suspension
for remarks to the referee at Chesterfield, tried to make up for losing
the ball by losing his head and lunging into a late tackle.
It was the kind of indiscipline
which, allied with a chronic lack of concentration in defence and an absence
of co-ordination in attack, left United lucky to escape with a point. Gillingham,
as their manager Peter Taylor complained, should have been out of sight
by the time Butler equalised.
Andy Thomson and his
partner Bob Taylor each found themselves completely clear three times in
the first half, but between them managed to score only one goal, thanks
to a combination of the keeper's heroics and their wayward finishing.
They were through again
early in the second half with a chance to get the second goal which would
have put the lights out on United, but Thomson, running on to his partner's
pass saw his lob hit the bar.
United undoubtedly had
their selection problems. With Ben Chenery unfit, McFarland had to call
up trialist Scott Paterson for his first game of the season, and re-arrange
the side.
But the ex-Carlisle
player's lack of match fitness and Byfield's unfamiliarity with his fellow
strikers could hardly be used as excuses for a largely lame display, because
the two newcomers probably made more of a mark than most of the regulars.
Gillingham regained
control once it was 10 against 10, and Van Huesden, who on one occasion
had to run 30 yards out of goal to save his defence by heading the ball
clear, preserved a scarcely deserved point with brilliant saves from Thomson
and Andy Hessenthaler in the last five minutes.
United centre-back Marc
Joseph said: "We shot ourselves in the foot." After the previous
home match, another 2-2 draw against Brentford he commented: "We shot
ourselves in the foot...."
Report © Cambridge Newspapers
Ltd
Graham Nurse's match report
Soccernet match report
Cambridge Evening News match report
In
many ways the pattern of this game followed that of last week at Millwall.
United had Arjan Van Heusden and fortune to thank for not being three or
four goals adrift at the break, then forced their way back into a winning
position before throwing the points away.
It's
difficult to know quite what to say about today's performance, so I'll get
straight to the point by saying it was crap. It is quite some time since
I have been so disappointed with a home performance, and we were very lucky
to escape with a point. We didn't play anywhere like we can except for a
10 minute spell in the second half.