Cambridge United's excellent recent away form came to an end today when the lack of fit and experienced strikers told and Oldham Athletic won by the only goal in a low key, scrappy game.

Roy McFarland made three changes to the side that beat Oxford last weekend and opted for an adventurous 4-3-3 line-up. Neil Mustoe returned from injury to replace the injured Neil Mackenzie in midfield, John Taylor started up front in place of midfielder John Hansen and Zema Abbey made his full debut in place of the suspended Trevor Benjamin.

Referee John Brandwood received a 'warm' welcome from the U's fans when he foolishly decided to warm up in front of them, and they noisily enquired whether he knew the rules. Brandwood was in charge of January's FA Cup fifth round tie at the Abbey and failed to punish Bolton defender Mike Whitlow when he rugby-tackled Trevor Benjamin as the striker broke clear on goal. As part of the FA's April Fools day fun, Brandwood's assistants today were Messrs Brand and Wood.

The first chance in this low key affair came after four minutes when Martin McNeil's through ball was just inches too far in front of John Taylor and Oldham keeper Gary Kelly collected. A minute later at the other end Marc Joseph's mis-clearance presented the ball to Whitehall and Scott Eustace snapped into a challenge to clear the danger.

Roy McFarland planned today's formation with influential midfielder John Sheridan in mind and his tenth minute threaded pass eluded everyone, forcing Lionel Perez to save low down at his far post. It was in the 24th minute that United created the next opening when Taylor's through ball found Neil Mustoe whose shot from 12 yards was blocked away, and from the corner Abbey flicked the ball on and Lamey's header was clutched under the bar. Five minutes later a 25 yard shot from Allott was well held low down by Perez.

McFarland's plans were disrupted in the 38th minute when the injured Lamey had to make way for deadline day loan signing Jon Hunt and two minutes later - with his first touch - Hunt sent Mustoe clear but Kelly was out quickly to save well with his feet. It was a disappointing first half in which United understandably lacked cohesion up front. (Half-time 0-0)

Four minutes into the second half Mustoe and Abbey worked a neat one-two on the edge of the area but Mark Hotte nipped in just ahead of Mustoe to hurry the ball out for a corner. In the 57th minute Steve Whitehall got away and his cross to the far post found McNiven, and from a tight angle his shot flashed across the face of goal and was deflected away for a corner as the U's came under pressure for about the first time.

Oldham's goal came in the 76th minute when McNiven's deep cross was met at the far post by Andy Holt who slid the ball in past Perez. Roy McFarland's reaction was to send teenager Daniel Chilingworth on two minutes later for the shattered Taylor, but as the U's pressed forward in search of an equalising goal Oldham forced more chances than they had in the preceding 80 minutes.

The remainder of the match saw Lionel Perez fighting a lone duel against substitute Ryan Sugden, such as the 85th minute chance when Sugden broke clear and saw his shot from the edge of the area touched behind. In the 90th minute Sugden beat the offside trap but Eustace showed a surprising turn of speed to get back and hold him up, and Perez was able to complete the save with his feet. Then a minute later the same player beat the offside trap again to go clear one-on-one with Perez, and the Frenchman saved brilliantly with his feet.

Reporter Mark Johnson described this as a match in which neither side looked like scoring until Oldham actually did, and they produced most of their chances after their goal while United went in search of a goal. He summed up the match by commenting that it was fitting that Oldham are sponsored by Slumberland. Neil Mustoe showed no ill effects from his enforced lay-off with a typical hardworking midfield performance, while Zema Abbey demonstrated some nice touches on his full debut but looked understandably raw.

Mark's man of the match was Neil Mustoe: "He marked Sheridan out of the game in the first half and had our best two half-chances."

Ref watch: John Brandwood - didn't do anything tremendously wrong but I didn't feel overly confident, I was waiting for him to make a mistake. 5/10

Results on Saturday 1st April 2000

        Blackpool   0-0   Preston North End      9,042
        Brentford   0-2   Wigan Athletic         4,479
   Bristol Rovers   3-3   Stoke City             9,312
             Bury   3-0   Scunthorpe United      3,546
     Cardiff City   1-2   Burnley                6,487
       Gillingham   1-0   Chesterfield           6,772
       Luton Town   3-2   Colchester United      5,125
     Notts County   1-1   Millwall               7,032
  Oldham Athletic   1-0   Cambridge United       4,988
    Oxford United   1-0   AFC Bournemouth        5,214
          Wrexham   0-1   Reading                2,613
Wycombe Wanderers   1-2   Bristol City           4,754


Bottom of Division Two

17  Wrexham               40 12 11 17  45  57  -12  47
18  Colchester United     40 13  8 19  52  72  -20  47
19  Oxford United         40 11  7 22  37  65  -28  40
20  Cambridge United      39  9 11 19  52  57   -5  38
------------------------------------------------------
21  Cardiff City          39  7 16 16  40  54  -14  37
22  Scunthorpe United     40  8 12 20  36  65  -29  36
23  Blackpool             40  7 14 19  41  67  -26  35
24  Chesterfield          39  5 12 22  25  52  -27  27

Oldham made it six games unbeaten with a 1-0 win at Boundary Park to plunge struggling Cambridge back into relegation trouble.

The game was evenly poised until the home side broke the deadlock in the 75th minute. A cross from John Sheridan picked out Andrew Holt and he slid the ball home from eight yards out for only his third goal of the season.

After that it was all Oldham and the visitor's keeper Lionel Perez twice denied teenage striker Ryan Sugden in the dying minutes.

Cambridge, who had been unbeaten in their previous five away games, played with three strikers but they could only manage one shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.

(c) Copyright Press Association Ltd 2000

Cambridge slumped to their first defeat in six away games to remain deep in trouble at the foot of the second division. They set out their stall for a point - managing just a single shot on target in 90 minutes - but were denied by Andrew Holt's 75th minute goal. It completed a hat-trick of wins for Oldham, whose ambition is a top-half finish.

Cambridge will be relieved to welcome back strikers Trevor Benjamin and Tom Youngs, both of whom missed this low quality game.

Cambridge made the brighter start, but the general standard of play bordered on abysmal as neither side managed to string together any move of note. The only remote threats to goal came from crosses which didn't reach their targets, and a pass from Oldham's John Sheridan which brought a save from on-loan goalkeeper Lionel Perez.

It took 25 minutes for the first effort to arrive from Cambridge's Nathan Laney, who headed straight at Gary Kelly from a corner. That moment sparked a relative flood of excitement as Steve Whitehall shot wide for the home side and Mark Allott hit a 20-yard volley to bring a scrambling stop from Perez.

Injury to Laney saw the visitors bring on new signing Jonathan Hunt, making his debut on-loan from Sheffield United. But the infusion of new blood made precious little difference to a first half which began badly and headed downhill fast.

The second half started with a bout of push-and-shove in the Cambridge box after Allott and Scott Eustace clashed while chasing a deep cross. Both players escaped with a telling off from referee John Brandwood, who sometimes needed two pairs of eyes in a game of off-the-ball niggles.

Oldham came close to the breakthrough after 57 minutes when Scott McNiven's angled shot was cleared off the line by Cambridge skipper Paul Wanless. Substitute Mark Innes tried his luck from long range but Oldham continued to struggle up-front until their opponents finally buckled 15 minutes from time.

Wing-back Holt was superbly found by McNiven's long ball from the right. He slid in at the far post, never breaking stride as he met the pass at full pace and drilled beyond Perez from 10 yards. The goal lifted a weight from Oldham's shoulders and they went on to play a more expansive game. There were two late chances for teenage substitute Ryan Sugden, but on both occasions he was denied by the alertness of Perez.

A RARE moment of quality in an otherwise forgettable match was enough to consign Cambridge United to their first away defeat in six games, leaving them just one point above the Division Two drop zone.

Oldham's Boundary Park may be the country's highest ground, but the football on display was largely from the nether regions as both sides struggled to cope with the heavily-sanded pitch. Perhaps the pre-match tannoy announcer was trying to forewarn the 4,988 supporters when he reminded them the Latics were sponsored by Slumberland. It's certainly hard to think of a more appropriate football-business partnership.

Goalmouth action was at a premium throughout, and although Oldham upped the pace after the interval, it was hardly a game to set the pulse racing. The decisive moment came 16 minutes from time when the home side's right and left-backs combined with telling effect to punish United's dozing defence.

Right-back Scott McNiven was the catalyst, sending an inch-perfect cross-field ball over Jason Kavanagh to allow his foraging colleague Andy Holt to dispatch a clinical left-foot volley past Lionel Perez. It was a move of rare class in a match of disjointed mediocrity and proved enough to kill off United's hopes of returning with at least a point.

Substitute Ryan Sugden could have extended the Latics' lead late on, but he squandered a trio of good chances in the dying minutes as United got caught pushing forward. Although obviously disappointed, boss Roy McFarland could have few complaints after seeing his side muster just one shot on goal in 90 minutes -- the power and pace of Trevor Benjamin and Tom Youngs was sorely missed, despite the manager employing an unfamiliar 4-3-3 formation.

Young strikers Nathan Lamey and Zema Abbey, the latter in his first start for the club, both battled hard in support of John Taylor, but their efforts were largely fruitless as time and again the final ball went awry. When Lamey limped off shortly before half time, he was replaced by loanee Jonathan Hunt, but his debut contribution was a largely anonymous affair, bar one perceptive through ball to Neil Mustoe which was mis-controlled, as the home side took control of the scrappy second half.

The late search for an equaliser also saw Daniel Chillingworth make his league debut, replacing Taylor in the 78th minute as United tried in vain for a share of the points. But playing with three strikers gives no guarantee of goals, and United's decision to by-pass midfield brought criticism from Oldham manager Andy Ritchie after the match.

"Teams come here to try and catch us on the break and we have to make all the running, and it's very difficult to play against teams that are well organised and hit long balls over the top. "They were a very physical side, but I knew what to expect and I told the lads.

"If they didn't believe me they soon found out in the first half," said Ritchie. "They tried to force us to play their way, which is what they did in the first half. The ball was a bit like a hot potato, but in the second half we started to get it down and play a bit and I thought we deserved to win," he added.

McFarland's decision to drop John Hansen in favour of Abbey paid dividends of sorts for 45 minutes, but United's three-man midfield became swamped after the break despite the tireless work put in by Mustoe, Paul Wanless and Ian Ashbee. Oldham playmaker John Sheridan was effectively nullified by Mustoe's terrier-like performance, but the home team amended their style accordingly in the second half and brought more width to their attacks.

McNiven gave early warning of what was to follow when he shot across the United goal in the 50th minute and the home crowd came to life as two Oldham penalty appeals were correctly turned down. If not quite building a head of steam, Oldham were at least forcing the pace and the introduction of Mark Innes for Paul Rickers gave them further midfield control midway through the second half.

As the game wore on, United found it increasingly difficult to retain the ball and eventually paid the price when McNiven found Holt for the 76th minute winner. Perez had no chance with that, but did well to twice deny Sugden late on, first with the aid of a desparate Scott Eustace tackle and then with the some agile footwork. The young striker also hit a third chance wide as Sheridan exploited the gaps in United's advancing defence.

News of Oxford's home win against Bournemouth was a double blow for United, but the players must regroup quickly before tomorrow's vital home clash with Bury. They are now just one point ahead of Cardiff, who must travel to promotion-chasing Gillingham.

The only bright spot on an otherwise dull afternoon was the Football Association's choice of officials. However unhappy United were to see referee John Brandwood -- he of the Bolton FA Cup defeat -- they could not have failed to raise a wry smile at his assistants: Mr Brand and Mr Wood.

Someone at the FA with a sense of humour?

Surely not.

Report © Cambridge Newspapers Ltd

The U`s went into this game with almost as many first teamers injured or suspended than available,but with a depleted line up we started brightly and had a good 15 minute spell, unfortunately everything seemed to fizzle out in the final third. The formation favored an attacking performance but included two players in Nathan Lamey and Zema Abbey who have barely got 90 minutes experience between them and unfortunately it often showed. Abbey made some good touches but looked lost in thinking the next move, Lamey showed some of his pace and promise which earned him his place but was subbed through injury by Hunt who showed little of the quality player he is.

Oldham began to get back into the game later in second half in a match which looked like being a goal less draw in a quiet atmosphere despite all efforts from the 300 or so travelling U`s. At half time the scores were level, Perez had only been called upon once and again looked comfortable with Mcneil and Eustace making some good interceptions in defense.

The second half got underway with Oldham forcing a lot of posession into our half. United struggled to breakdown these attacks for any length of time and often the midfield had no option of any attacking outlets but to go alone, Neil Mustoe having the best run only to be surrounded by four Oldham players with little or no options around him.

The deadlock was broken in the 75 minute when Andrew Holt slid the ball past Perez from 8 yards off of a John Sheridan cross.United were then left to chase the game and introduced Dan Chillingsworth who again is raw of any real experience but showed some lively runs and good enthusiasm. With united chasing the game Perez made two excellent saves to deny Ryan Sugden. The experienced goal keeper of Gary Kelly had little to do in the Oldham goal in a game which always looked beyond United after falling a goal down.

Hopefully Tuesday's game will see the return of some of the missing players and a better result and performance. Today wasn`t all bad though as most of the other results favored us and we are still out of the drop zone which is where we will stay.