Nationwide League Division Two - Sunday 26th December, 1999
Cambridge
United (4-4-2): Marshall, Kavanagh, Eustace, McNeil, Wilson; Mackenzie, Ashbee,
Preece (c) (Joseph 82'), Russell (Mustoe 78'); Butler, Youngs (Benjamin 83').
Oxford United : Arendse, Robinson, Powell, Murphy, Lilley (Francis 77'), Beauchamp, Cook (Anthrobus 62'), Davies, Folland, Whelan, McGowan.
Shots on target: Oxford 3 Cambridge 2
Referee: Phillip Dowd (Stoke on Trent)
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Roy
McFarland made four changes to the side beaten by Oldham last weekend, one of them enforced as skipper Paul Wanless succumbed to 'flu, so David Preece took his place and the captain's armband for his first start of the season. Elsewhere Scott Eustace replaced Marc Joseph in the centre of defence, Alex Russell made his long-awaited comeback in a four man midfield in place of John Taylor, and Tom Youngs made a surprise start instead of Trevor Benjamin, who has been at the centre of much recent transfer speculation and was confined to the bench. There was no room at the inn for new signing Steve Guinan, and the weather before kick-off was threatening rain with a cold wind.
United enjoyed all the early pressure and were all over Oxford, but the chances of a first away win of the season took a huge blow in the 35th minute when Martin McNeil received his second yellow card. The first was for a late challenge and the second came after Beauchamp got away, Wilson missed his challenge and McNeil's covering tackle was clumsy. Russell and Mackenzie were effective in the new-look midfield, prompting Butler and Youngs into giving the home defence palpitations, and United had the best of the game both before and after the sending off.
Russell had a shot deflected over as early as the fourth minute and United should have scored from the corner when a clever routine ended with Russell dinking the ball forward only for Eustace to head it straight at the 'keeper.
There was a sign in the ninth minute of what sort of afternoon it would be when, despite having his shirt pulled by a defender, Butler burst into the box but was stopped by the referee giving a free kick rather than playing advantage. The first real danger came after 27 minutes when Beauchamp got away down the right and beat the offside trap, his cross found Powell at the far post in acres of space, but as he was about to shoot Ashbee and Mackenzie put in challenges.
After the 35th minute departure of McNeil, Ian Ashbee moved back to act as a stand-in central defender and United continued to look good and in control while Oxford looked like a side well out of form. (Half-time 0-0)
The U's started the second half just as strongly but could have gone one down on 64 minutes we were caught with men upfield and Beauchamp got on the end of a five man break, but he sliced a shot across the face of goal. Alex Russell performed well on the left and will take a lot of benefit from this outing, but he was replaced by the fresh legs of Neil Mustoe in the 78th minute. United mounted a brave rearguard action against an Oxford side trying to make numbers count, and might have just started to dare to dream of a precious clean sheet when the home side scored with six minutes left.
Player-coach David Preece looked a tired man when he was replaced by Marc Joseph in the 82nd minute, after organising the team and contributing to the most creative U's midfield seen for many a game. A minute later Beauchamp's cross was met by a Matt Murphy header at close range, a cruel blow for the battling U's.
Trevor Benjamin replaced Tom Youngs immediately but it was too tall a mountain to climb for a United side who had given so much and suffered from some very one-sided refereeing. Butler and Youngs were pushed, kicked and manhandled throughout with no protection from Mr Dowd while Eustace and Butler were the only players apart from McNeil to be cautioned, allegedly for fouls. Even then a well-crafted break in the 90th minute might have yielded a point when Butler put in Mustoe, but the little midfielder got underneath the ball and put it over the bar and into the crowd.
There were good points to take from today's game as for long periods a late arrival would not have known United were down to ten men. The team defended doggedly and in good spirit and the new-look 4-4-2 formation looked good and was extremely effective until the sending off.
Reporter Mark Johnson's man of the match was Scott Eustace: "A rock at the heart of defence. He barely put a foot wrong, didn't try anything fancy: 'If in doubt put it out'."
*** RESULTS AND ATTENDANCES ON 26/12/99 ***
Blackpool 1-2 Stoke City 5,274
Brentford 2-1 Bristol City 6,942
Bristol Rovers 1-0 Millwall 10,077
Bury 4-2 Burnley 9,115
Cardiff City 1-0 Reading 9,791
Gillingham 2-1 Colchester United 7,338
Luton Town 1-1 Chesterfield 5,870
Notts County 0-2 Wigan Athletic 8,176
Oldham Athletic 1-1 Scunthorpe United 5,998
Oxford United 1-0 Cambridge United 6,772
Wrexham 0-0 Preston North End 7,872
Wycombe Wanderers 2-1 AFC Bournemouth 5,656
BOTTOM OF DIVISION TWO
Pos P W D L F A Gd Pts
17 Cardiff City 22 5 7 10 24 30 -6 22
18 Wrexham 22 4 10 8 21 34 -13 22
19 Scunthorpe United 22 5 6 11 22 36 -14 21
20 Colchester United 23 5 6 12 26 46 -20 21
21 Reading 21 4 6 11 25 40 -15 18
22 Blackpool 22 3 7 12 22 40 -18 16
23 Cambridge United 22 3 6 13 30 40 -10 15
24 Chesterfield 22 2 8 12 13 25 -12 14
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Midfielder Matt Murphy headed in his 13th goal of the season seven minutes from time to break Cambridge's brave resistance in this Christmas University challenge.
Roy McFarland's team were tiring after being forced to play with ten men for nearly an hour after the sending off of teenage defender Martin McNeil. And their defenders, put off by the arrival of Oxford substitutes Kevin Francis and Steve Anthrobus, failed to pick up Murphy who headed in Joey Beauchamp's corner.
McNeil was sent off for the first time in his career for two wreckless challenges on Beauchamp. The first came in the 14th minute and the second followed ten minutes before half time, leaving Stoke referee Phillip Dowd with little option but to produce a second yellow card.
Cambridge had begun the game the sharper of the two sides with Alex Russell seeing a shot deflected just over the bar. However, Scott Eustace wasted a glorious chance with a header just six yards out from Russell's right-wing cross. He directed it into the grateful arms of goalkeeper Andre Arendse but knew he should have scored.
Oxford, their confidence dented by a 4-0 hammering at Bournemouth, took nearly half an hour to manage an effort on goal. Beauchamp whipped over a low cross, but Paul Powell seemed to want too long on the ball and was crowded out as he shot. Murphy then sent a header at another corner straight at the keeper as Oxford pressed hard.
Cambridge had to reshuffle after McNeil's dismissal and Oxford found Powell all on his own on the left wing for most of the second half. Several times he sent over good crosses but it was only when Francis and Anthrobus came on as the game neared it's conclusion that Oxford looked really threatening.
A rare flowing move involving Derek Lilley and Anthrobus ended with Beauchamp screwing his shot wide and moments later Powell crossed when he should have shot. The crowd, Oxford's best league gate of the season, seemed to sense a grandstand finale, and it came as Murphy made up for his first-half miss.
But even then Cambridge had an opportunity to level it all up again as leading scorer Martin Butler sent a shot from 18 yards straight at an Oxford defender on the ground when the goal seemed to be at his mercy. It was Oxford's first home league win since they beat Bristol City on 2 October and leaves Cambridge deep in relegation trouble.
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MATT MURPHY finally came up with the right answer to settle the university town challenge.
Midfielder Murphy produced an 83rd-minute header to nod home Joey Beauchamp's corner.
Cambridge were reduced to 10 men for nearly an hour after defender Martin McNeil, 19, had dived in with two reckless first-half tackles on Beauchamp. It was the first red card of the teenager's career - and left struggling Cambridge with it all to do.
Boss Roy McFarland groaned: "The result is disappointing because my players battled so hard. Martin showed his inexperience. He knows diving in like that is something you cannot do and it is a lesson he has to learn. It was so unprofessional - just so unlike him."
Oxford boss Mickey Lewis admitted: "Sometimes it is nice to win when you haven't played well."
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THE CHRISTMAS cheer turned to Boxing Day blues for Cambridge United's long-suffering travelling fans with that elusive, almost mythical, clean sheet just eight minutes away.
What would have been a deserved and heroic draw for a 10 man team, became a damaging fourth consecutive League defeat when Oxford snatched a set-piece winner. Well on top until young centre-back Martin McNeil was sent off for two fouls on Joey Beauchamp in the 32nd minute, United still matched the home team despite also being without the strength of flu victim Paul Wanless.
It hardly sounded like the biggest crowd of the season at the Manor Ground, as United managed to subdue Oxford and turn the second half into a stalemate which seemed to be heading for a goalless draw. Until Mickey Lewis sent on one of the biggest men in League football, 6ft 7ins striker Kevin Francis.
His towering presence at an 82nd minute corner kick attracted the attention of centre-halves Scott Eustace and Marc Joseph, leaving Matt Murphy free to power a header inside the far post. United manager Roy McFarland identified an individual error -- Neil Mustoe losing Murphy in the packed penalty area. And unfortunately for his team, it was one of too many crucial mistakes which studded a good overall display.
Eustace aimed a close range header straight at goalkeeper Andre Arendse right at the start. And a few minutes from the end Mustoe, and Martin Butler of all people, missed golden opportunities to equalise.
Trevor Benjamin's 88th minute challenge with a defender in the box left both of them on the ground, the ball breaking for Butler, with the keeper at his mercy. The 17 goals striker snatched at his shot though, hitting it straight at the fallen Oxford man. Within a minute Butler broke through again, hitting a square pass to Mustoe, who had a clear sight of goal. But the midfielder, on his wrong foot, lifted a shot high over the crossbar.
"Martin knows he should have scored," said McFarland. "It was a very good chance for a striker, and he could have chipped a shot over the keeper."
There might not have been such a desperate need for a late goal however if United had not been reduced to 10 men after dominating the opening half an hour. Teenage centre-back Martin McNeil's naivety was fully exposed when he lunged into challenges on one of the trickiest wingers in the lower divisions, twice bringing Beauchamp down.
"It was a costly mistake for us," said the United boss. "Martin is well aware he can't go in like that, and I'll be talking to him about it. I can't really argue about his bookings, although it might have made a difference if the referee was consistent.
"One of their defenders escaped a booking for blocking Martin Butler when the referee also failed to play advantage, with Martin going for goal."
United going for goal was the pattern of play until McNeil's dismisal. "I was very impressed," said Oxford coach Lewis: "Cambridge had us on the back foot and we had to defend well."
Alex Russell was their tormentor, significantly showing what United have been missing during his months on the injured list. After setting up the early chance for Eustace with a superb chipped centre, the midfielder beat a defender to launch another attack, then ghosted past two men to spark panic in the Oxford box.
With veteran coach David Preece and Ian Ashbee helping Russell run the game, McFarland's decision to drop Trevor Benjamin and switch to 4-4-2 looked like working out. Oxford were restricted to a single first half threat, a Beauchamp inspired move producing a corner at which Murphy forced a save from Shaun Marshall.
Depleted United tired as the second half wore on, but they worked hard enough to send many Oxford fans home before the 82nd minute winner. A Beauchamp break in the 65th minute, his shot skidding wide, was a rare threat from open play.
United were understandibly downcast as they emerged from the changing room after a game in which they gave so much for no reward. It was the sort of agonizingly frustrating match which it has to be said you see in relegation seasons. But McFarland was defiantly upbeat.
"There were pluses for me in the performances of Alex Russell and Tom Youngs," he said, before making a prediction the supporters will pray is more accurate than most of "Old Moore's" musings on the first year of the 21st century: "If we carry on playing like that, we'll be okay come the end of the season."
Report © Cambridge Newspapers
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