Cambridge United slipped back into the bottom four after conceding a late, late equaliser to a desperate Luton side while results elsewhere went the wrong way.

Roy McFarland made the expected change by bringing centre-half Marc Joseph in to replace left-back Tom Cowan who has been recalled by Burnley. He also named fit-again right-back Jason Kavanagh at the expense of Ben Chenery and brought Neil Mackenzie into midfield in place of John Hansen. Tom Youngs moved to the left wing to accommodate Mackenzie on the right.

Young striker Zema Abbey was on the bench and his brother, goalkeeper Nathan Abbey, was on the Luton bench. The Hatters' boss Lennie Lawrence changed both strikers and started Liam George and Andrew Fotiadis in place of Stuart Douglas and the injured Phil Gray. The game kicked off in cool and dry conditions on a pitch that was being watered until shortly before kick-off, and United were welcomed by about 1,100 travelling supporters.

United carved out the first chance of the half after just 32 seconds when Luton 'keeper Ben Roberts - on loan from Middlesbrough - took too long over a clearance which was charged down by Trevor Benjamin and bounced a couple of yards wide in front of the away fans. But United went through a shaky spell and in the second minute Shaun Marshall spilled a cross before reacting quickly to tip it away from George. A minute later Fotiadis worked a shooting chance for himself inside the box as he cut inside Kavanagh, but placed his shot well wide.

In the eighth minute Neil Mackenzie won possession in midfield and found John Taylor who went on a trademark jinking run, hugging the touchline until he reached the byline, then whipped in a good cross which was claimed by Roberts under pressure from Benjamin and Youngs. The young forwards linked up in the 13th minute when Youngs launched Benjamin on a counter-attack but his progress was stopped when he was hauled back by the shoulder by Locke who incredibly escaped a yellow card or even a talking-to from Mr Pearson. Luton countered and a deep cross to the far post was met by wing-back Matthew Taylor who fortunately headed wide.

Physio Ken Steggles was required on the pitch after 17 minutes when Shaun Marshall collapsed in a heap and required some attention before he got gingerly to his feet with what looked like a knee or ankle injury. United's defence was asleep as play re-started a minute later and although Marshall beat out Matthew Taylor's cross the rebound was rammed into the net by centre-half Gary Doherty. (1-0)

Marshall was down and requiring attention again in the 20th minute after a three-way collision. Luton's George chased a long through ball and he, Martin McNeil and Marshall all collided before the ball rolled away for a corner. The clash ended the young goalkeeper's involvement in the match and he was replaced in the 23rd minute by Arjan Van Heusden who came on for his first Division Two action since October.

Almost immediately from the re-start the U's defence were all over the place as Luton made a good build-up with a neat one-two before a deep cross brought a good save by Van Heusden from Doherty. Then in the 24th minute Ian Ashbee's 20 yard shot was deflected to Youngs who pounced inside the area and his first time shot was saved low down at the near post. Three minutes later a scrappy free-kick came to Youngs who turned the ball into the area, Paul Wanless chipped it to Trevor Benjamin eight yards out and, almost with his back to goal, he craned his neck to place the ball just inside the far post. It was Trevor's fifth goal in five games, his 17th goal of the season and brings him to within one goal of Martin Butler's haul. Cue lots of exultant "You're not signing any more" from the travelling U's. (1-1)

Just a minute after our equaliser Luton's Fotiadis chased a long ball which Van Heusden was out quickly to clear, and although his kick hit the striker the ball fortunately rolled wide. Then in the 32nd minute the defensive frailties were highlighted again when from a Luton corner George's glancing header flashed wide as the striker was worryingly unmarked.

Luton played some neat football without making the most of their possession and United ended the half strongly with three good opportunities to take the lead. In the 43rd minute Mackenzie whipped in a free kick to Wanless at the far post and his downward header looked a goal all the way until Roberts made a brilliant save with his legs. In the first minute of injury time United, who had been tiptoeing along the edge of Luton's offside trap, stumbled forward but with about five players in support Mackenzie hit a speculative 35 yard shot which trundled wide. Then a minute later Benjamin found Youngs inside the area, and his good shot on the turn was deflected and bounced over Roberts' helpless arm before floating agonisingly wide. (Half-time 1-1)

The second half was a flowing affair and after 53 minutes John Taylor broke through three challenges before finding Youngs in the area with his cross, Youngs set up Mackenzie whose shot was charged down. But then in the 57th minute Ian Ashbee and Benjamin combined for a one-two on the edge of the area, Benjamin was being pulled all over the place but still found Ashbee who broke into the area, bounced a shot off the 'keeper but followed up to roll it into the net. He has been edging closer to a goal for the last couple of weeks and this was his first of the season. Cue the "Ian Ashbee's magic" song. (1-2)

Neil Mackenzie had to be substituted a few minutes later after taking a bang on the head and he was replaced by John Hansen. The Dane took up his usual place on the left wing which allowed Youngs to return to the right, but it was going to be a long second half as Luton were forced to throw players forward and look for the equaliser.

After 69 minutes Matthew Taylor flicked on a cross from the right to George, but United enjoyed a let-off as he spooned it over from five yards. Then at the other end a slip by a defender let in Benjamin who cut inside the defender and saw his shot turned round the post low down by the impressive Roberts. Two minutes later Arjan Van Heusden saved a certain goal after a Luton corner which was returned with interest. Doherty's towering header looked certain to to creep in under the crossbar until the Dutchman brilliantly clawed it out with one hand from behind him.

Luton brought on striker Stuart Douglas in place of Fotiadis in the 74th minute and for the last ten minutes they laid seige to the U's goal. United suffered the third enforced substitution of the game in the 80th minute when Tom Youngs had to make way for Ben Chenery with a possible ankle injury. Then in the 81st minute White's 20 yard free-kick routine saw the ball curl over United's bar by about a foot, and in the 88th minute a Luton corner was met by Doherty who thundered a header against the bar which was probably still reverberating a minute later.

A generous-looking six minutes of stoppage time was indicated as Luton exerted non-stop pressure in and around the area, and there was plenty of brave and last ditch defending from United. Marc Joseph in particular made a couple of great vital tackles and in the 93rd minute Eustace and McNeil combined brilliantly to clear a dangerous Luton attack, while Van Heusden made another good save moments later, but in the 94th minute Luton played their umpteenth cross into the area, United's defence could only knock it down, and substitute Paul McLaren volleyed the ball home.

The home fans gleefully directed a chorus of "Going down, going down" at our fans before launching into "You're not singing anymore", but at the final whistle U's player-coach David Preece, a Luton man for most of his career, made a point of directing the United players towards the away fans where they got a tremendous reception.

In his summary, reporter Mark Johnson felt that "we let ourselves down with some poor defending early in the game, but we looked to have done just about enough to win the game until Luton came charging forward and threw everything into their search for an equaliser. Their on-loan 'keeper Ben Roberts kept them in the game for long spells but Arjan Van Heusden had to deny a certain goal at the other end so maybe the result was just about right. Very disappointing though."

His man of the match was Ian Ashbee: "A gritty 'Ian Ashbee' midfield performance capped by a goal that could have been the winner."

United slipped back into the relegation zone as a result of this draw and Oxford United's late winner at Bury. Saturday's home match against Oxford - on the day of the Universities' boat race - has if possible assumed even more importance.

Results on Tuesday 21st March 2000

  AFC Bournemouth   0-1   Gillingham             4,443
        Blackpool   1-1   Burnley                8,029
             Bury   1-2   Oxford United          2,606
     Chesterfield   1-1   Cardiff City           2,348
Colchester United   0-1   Oldham Athletic        3,282
       Luton Town   2-2   Cambridge United       5,379
     Notts County   1-0   Preston North End      6,401
Scunthorpe United   0-0   Brentford              2,686
          Wrexham   1-1   Millwall               3,019
Wycombe Wanderers   0-2   Wigan Athletic         3,821
   
   
Bottom of Division Two

17  Reading               36 10 12 14  45  56  -11  42
18  Bury                  35  9 14 12  46  47   -1  41
19  Oxford United         38 10  7 21  36  63  -27  37
20  Scunthorpe United     37  8 12 17  34  57  -23  36
------------------------------------------------------
21  Cambridge United      37  8 11 18  50  56   -6  35
22  Cardiff City          37  6 16 15  38  52  -14  34
23  Blackpool             38  7 13 18  41  64  -23  34
24  Chesterfield          36  5 12 19  24  47  -23  27
   

Substitute Paul McLaren saved Luton's blushes with an equaliser four minutes into stoppage time after Cambridge had looked like pulling off a victory they needed in their battle against relegation.

Gary Doherty shot Luton into a 19th-minute lead but Cambridge came back strongly and Trevor Benjamin's 17th goal of the season put them level on 26 minutes.

Eleven minutes into the second half Benjamin forced Luton goalkeeper Ben Roberts to make a blocking save but Ian Asbee was able to roll the ball into an empty net from the rebound.

Luton piled on late pressure, most of it through the aerial power of Doherty, who hit the bar with a header three minutes from the end of normal time before his headed pass gave McLaren the chance to smash home the point saver which prevented Luton slumping to their seventh defeat in eight matches.

(c) Copyright Press Association Ltd 2000

Paul McLaren scored his first goal for 18 months to prevent relegation-threatened Cambridge United from winning a precious three points at Luton. The Hatters midfielder's last goal came in a Worthington Cup tie at Oxford United in September 1998, but his acrobatic stoppage-time volley saw the home team snatch a point from a 2-2 draw.

Six minutes of added-on time were played by referee Roy Pearson and Luton took full advantage. McLaren volleyed past Cambridge's substitute keeper Arjan Van Heusden after the excellent Gary Doherty had headed into his path.

Doherty had earlier given Luton a 19th-minute lead, but Cambridge fought back with goals from Trevor Benjamin and Ian Ashbee. Luton went in front when Matthew Taylor's cross was only half-cleared and Doherty collected the loose ball to drill low past Shaun Marshall.

The powerful Benjamin equalised on 27 minutes, capitalising after a spell of pinball in the home penalty box and punished the slack defending with a flicked header that found its way into Luton keeper Ben Roberts' bottom corner.

Benjamin, a constant threat to Luton, was also involved in the visitors' second goal. The £1.5million-rated striker burst past home captain Marvin Johnson into the penalty box. Roberts saved at his feet, but England youth international Ashbee followed up to walk the ball into an empty net.

Luton responded with a rousing finale to the game, but George wasted a glorious opportunity to equalise by shooting over after being set up by Doherty. Shortly afterwards Van Heusden, on for the injured Marshall, pulled off a brilliant save from a Doherty header, and Cambridge captain Paul Wanless was on hand to clear from under his own crossbar.

On 88 minutes, Doherty then crashed a header against the visitors' crossbar before his late assist earned Luton a deserved point. McLaren's late, late effort was the home side's 22nd attempt on the Cambridge goal.

United boss Roy McFarland said afterwards: "The injuries to our players knocked us back. We sat back too deep and it looked inevitable that they were going to score. I though after 70 minutes we were comfortable, but we got disrupted. The only real threat was Doherty and he came into the game more and more. I am pleased with a point, we could have possibly sneaked three points, but they deserved a draw because of the way they finished the game."

Luton boss Lennie Lawrence said: "Paul McLaren doesn't score many goals, but that was an absolutely terrific strike and it earned us a draw."

A COUPLE of killer injury-time goals, two minutes and 150 miles apart, dropped Cambridge United back into the relegation zone on a night when they showed they have the ability, strength, and certainly the grit and determination, to deserve second division status.

Arch-rivals Oxford, the opponents in a blockbuster clash at the Abbey in three days, grabbed a 92nd minute winner at Bury, then United had what would have been a valiant away victory snatched from them at Luton in the 94th.

If you looked at the match as a whole and analysed the statistics then it was probably, as both managers slightly reluctantly agreed, a fair result. But the manner and the timing could hardly have been more cruel for a United team who, yet again, put a sloppy home display behind them and raised their level of performance in every area.

They quickly hit back after conceding a 19th minute goal to equalise, gain control and take the lead early in the second half.

Manager Roy McFarland, who admitted he felt uneasy from the first minute of Saturday's defeat by Wrexham, said: "We were comfortable for most of the first half and 20 minutes or so into the econd."

But then they were literally knocked out of their stride. Goalkeeper Shaun Marshall had limped out of the game with a pulled muscle as early as the 23rd minute, and was followed in the last half an hour by Neil Mackenzie and Tom Youngs.

Midfielders Ian Ashbee and Paul Wanless were giving as good as they got, as usual, and there was not a single United man who pulled out of a challenge. But, in a hard though usually fair battle, Luton had more of the seasoned tough players you need in this sort of encounter, as well as a little more all-round stamina during the agonisingly long finale.

Losing a couple of attacking players meant United had fewer avenues out of defence, and with John Taylor, not surprisingly, tiring after a gruelling schedule of seven consecutive matches, they were unable to retain possession in the Luton half to ease the ever-mounting pressure.

Naturally, but fatally, they fell back on deeper and deeper defence, the ball bouncing back at them as though from a wall whenever they managed to clear.

Roared on by 1,200 nail- biting fans behind their goal, however, they still looked like holding on as injury time ticked so slowly away. But, ironically, a Luton injury which kept top scorer Phil Gray out of the game proved a crucial factor.

It meant Hatters' boss Lennie Lawrence had to convert powerful centre-half Gary Doherty into a centre-forward, and he was just the man they needed in a packed penalty area. A big, brave player whose thundering runs into the box and aerial ability brought back memories of United hero Steve Fallon, he was, eventually, unstoppable.

It took a wonder save from substitute keeper Arjan Van Heusden to flick his 73rd minute header away for a corner; he literally rattled the crossbar with a mighty header in the 88th minute; then beat the United defence again in the air to set up the equaliser.

"Doherty had a tremendous game," admittedMcFarland. "He's a difficult man to stop. Just imagine him alongside Trevor Benjamin."

It was Benjamin, with Taylor, who was the influential force in the first hour of the game, to such an extent that Lawrence commented: "I was massively disappointed by the way my defence was dominated by their front two. We owed a lot to our keeper."

Middlesbrough loanee Ben Roberts just about matched Van Heusden's save when he somehow blocked a close-range power header from Wanless after Mackenzie curled a 43rd minute free kick to the midfielder. He pulled off another to keep his side in the game when Benjamin broke through in the 70th minute, and then was able to watch most of the action from a distance as Luton suddenly began producing the pace and power which made them play-off contenders before their slump of six defeats in seven games.

United fought for every ball that dropped like a mortar bomb into their box, but they were unable to get out to cut off the supply. And, in the bitter end, the quantity produced the one moment of quality which stripped two precious points away from them.

Report © Cambridge Newspapers Ltd

The excellent Doherty refused to give up and was desperately unlucky not to score on 88 minutes when his header crashed against the crossbar. But the Irishman was the have the final laugh, heading into McLaren’s path and the Hatters' midfielder produced an acrobatic injury-time volley to earn the Hatters a point.

Report © Bedfordshire Newspapers

An uneventful journey from Melbourn, although I think some people may have been delayed by the railway gates at Foxton getting stuck in the down position!

Starting line-up:
Benjamin, Taylor,
Mackenzie, Wanless, Ashbee, Youngs,
Joseph, Eustace, McNeil, Kavanagh,
Marshall.

Benjamin made his presence felt in the first 30 seconds when he closed down the 'keeper as he kicked, but the ball rebounded out for a goalkick. A few minutes later Benjamin jumped with the 'keeper for a bouncing ball near the edge of the penalty area, the keeper could only palm the ball away but before we could do anything the referee had blown for a foul. Benjamin was fouled (for the first booking) near the half way line, but the free kick was wasted as Eustace put the ball straight out. Ashbee made a good run through the middle and almost put Youngs through but his pass was intercepted.

Luton looked dangerous at times, a free header was wide on 16 minutes, then 2 minutes later poor defending allowed them to score fairly easily. Soon after Marshall had to make a save, but in the process got injured and was replaced by Van Heusden on 22 minutes.

We continued attacking, Asbbee had a good shot deflected, the ball spinning out to Youngs whose shot was well saved for a corner. From a free kick Taylor headed on and Benjamin almost got on the end, almost immediately another similar chance allowed Benjamin to head just inside the post for the equaliser.

Benjamin was fouled as he got away down the wing, from the resulting free kick Wanless found space at the far post and put in a powerful header which somehow the 'keeper managed to keep out. In injury time Mackenzie had a shot off target, Youngs had a shot deflected for a corner and Taylor shot weakly and wide.

Luton started the second half the brighter, Van Heusden having to save a low cross, then taking a head on. We did pressure them, and Ashbee took a layoff from Benjamin into the penalty area, his shot was blocked but the ball ran kindly to his feet a yard out of the open goal and he duly scored to give us the lead 11 minutes into the half.

Luton were a physical side, the referee missed an elbow in the first half, then missed Mackenzie being elbowed which resulted in Hansen coming on to replace him after 18 minutes. As he walked past the visiting fans he didn't look at all well, with a big lump on one side of his face. Luton missed a good chance to equalise, then Benjamin had a shot saved for a corner. Van Heusden made a superb reflex save to claw the ball away from under the bar (I doubt Marshall could have made the save).

On 31 minutes Youngs got injured, I'm not sure how, and a after being off for a few minutes was replaced by Chenery, who went to right back with Kavanagh moving to right midfield. Joseph was subjected to a very late tackle for the second Luton booking. Luton continued to pile on the pressure, and on 41 minutes from a corner hit the bar with a strong header. 3 minutes into stoppage time they equalised, a cross headed back and volleyed in giving Van Heusden no chance.

I'd have settled for a draw at the start, and although Luton deserved a point for their second half pressure the late goal meant it felt as if we had been robbed. It is also the first time I've seen us not get beaten at Luton too! I don't know the crowd figure, I guess we must have sold around 3/4 of our tickets so there were probably around 1500 United fans there.

Their tactics of nobbling our players to get injury time worked well for them, if they hadn't have fouled so much they would have lost. When Youngs went off we couldn't seem to hold the ball so it came straight back. They played a lot of crosses to their big centre forward, and eventually he got a decent knock down from which they scored.

Other results mean we drop back into the bottom 4, the game on Saturday at home to Oxford is definitely a "must win".

Terry Wilby
Proud supporter of Cambridge United Football Club.

Strange game, how on earth we got a point with a truly shambolic second half defensive performance I will never know. That goal had been coming for ages, only the bar and the best save I have *ever* seen at a football match (Ise) kept them out, and a lot of luck as well!

Shame Oxford have sprung back into life, but we have a game in hand and they have a dreadful run-in. Saturdays game ins't a big one, it is a massive one ... easily the biggest of the season so far.

McNeil has totally lost the plot (been coming for a while), and with each game I feel his career is being damaged. We have *got* to sign an experienced central defender before deadline day (Thursday) or we are going to cut this too fine for my liking.

Oh, and probably the best away support of the season. The spontanous chanting after the 95th minite goal from Luton and the way Roy McFarland and the team were cheered off the pitch after a very average display was superb. I don't think the Luton fans knew what had hit them, totally and utterly outsung through the whole match, even when they were winning and even after their last gasp goal.

Great stuff off the pitch, slightly worrying on it. Defensivly we have to be more tight any degree of experience or quality is not being dealt with. A 19-year-old central defender who is playing badly is not going to lead us to second division survival, we can't kid ourselves about that.

Bad injury news as well by the looks of it, Marshall, Mackenzie and Youngs all looked to have picked up serious injuries and all had to be substituted. We need Mustoe and Wilson to come back quick, and a key signing before transfer deadline day is essential ... but it won't happen. We are going to have to ride the tide with the tools to hand and it is going to be a very close run thing...we can make our job a lot easier if we beat Oxford on Saturday.

Come on you U's!!!!!

Will Jones

My take on the game was we lost it for the last 20 mins for three reasons:

Firstly, we totally lost the plot on marking in defence. Joseph and McNeil were both guilty of ball watching, and quite regularly let their men get free. Luton had two or three clear chances before the goal went in, all coming from movement upfront which we couldn't follow. A lot of ball was played to their big striker (who I think is normally a centre half, so not exceptionally mobile) and even in the crowd we could predict where the final ball would go. For some reason the back four just didn't get on that wavelength.

To be fair to both these guys, they also made some crucial last ditch challenges, but we need the ability to get organised at the back, and no-one was doing that for us.

Second we were very disrupted by the two enforced substitutions; in particular the loss of Mackenzie really cut down on our distribution channels out of defence. I'll probably get flamed for this, but he is about the only player we have who can bring a loose ball under control quickly and lay it off. Once he'd gone we couldn't get the ball away. This was compounded by some weak kicking by Ice, who could hardly make the half way line (there was no wind).

Third was Shaggy's continuing presence when he was knackered. I love this man, but once he's tired out he loses his ability to control the ball and hold it up. One moment illustrated this perfectly. He had a free kick played in to him with a few minutes to go and went to shepherd it to the corner flag, but lost control and it went off for a goal kick - ten seconds later it was in our area, pressure back on. For the last 15 minutes we had no way of relieving pressure at all.

The only other criticism I would have is that Jason Kavanagh was targeted for a lot of high balls, they relied on the fact that their left front man was about 2 stone heavier and 3 inches taller than Jason, and it worked all game. We might have been better off with Chenery for this particular match.

On a positive note, every player on that pitch worked his socks off, the commitment is still there, Benji always looked dangerous, for a couple of good spells we bossed the game completely and when the ball was on the deck we looked the better side. And, as Wil said, great support throughout (notably from Wil himself!)

I would have settled for a point before the game, now we need three against the Oxford....

Nick
"United in Endeavour"