The events of the weekend meant I failed to report this story immediately, so apologies for the delay.

The club announced on Friday that 17-year-old Tom Youngs has bypassed the YTS scheme to win a two-year professional contract. The striker from Mildenhall stayed on at school to study for his A levels, but continued to impress the United management with his football progress.

Tom Youngs

Youth team manager David Batch speaks highly of the youngster, saying "Tom is a very intelligent player. He takes up brilliant attacking positions and just seems to ghost into open spaces. Roy McFarland has seen quite a bit of him and has been impressed. Since Tom has studied to 'A' he won't need to go on the college courses when he joins us, so he'll be able to concentrate fully on his football."

In December Batch said "Tom has a good touch, coupled with good vision and an eye for goal. When he does become full-time it will give us a chance to improve his strength which he will naturally develop with full-time training and give him the base from which to push for a professional contract."

On that basis Youngs is already a year ahead of schedule and is obviously highly regarded within the club. He was born in Bury St Edmunds and has been with United since the age of ten, when he was spotted by the then youth team manager Graham Scarff. He was chosen recently to play in a Football Association side against the FA Schools team.

Tom is looking forward to starting his new regime, saying, "Not training every day means that I'm not learning as much about the professional game as the full-time trainees."

United have gone outside mid-Anglia for all of the latest YTS intake, although all of them, except midfielder Jonathan Mills from Birmingham, are from neighbouring areas. Goalkeeper Scott Beadell and centre- half Michael Burrows are Essex boys from Witham and Southend, midfielder Michael Steward is from Ipswich, and defender Martin McNeil from King's Lynn. The forwards are Mark Gibson (Stevenage), Karl Fox (Norwich), and Andrew Ingham (Northampton).

The C.E.N. tonight revealed that United boss Roy McFarland has yet to sign the contract he was offered when he joined the club almost six months ago. The delay means that should another club approach him United would be powerless to stop him leaving or claim for compensation. Yesterday chairman Reg Smart stated that the club want McFarland to carry on next season and today he said he would rather leave it to McFarland to comment on the delay in signing what was initially an 18-month agreement.

McFarland stresses there is "nothing sinister about the situation," adding "There were one or two little things about the contract which were not quite right, so I got my solicitor to draft a new one. That hasn't been signed yet, but it's not a case of me delaying in order to keep my options open. In the event of approaches from anywhere else I would consider I had a contract with Cambridge."

McFarland also commented on the fact that several players will be out of contract in the summer, leading to some tricky negotiations in the months ahead.

"When I came here in November there were a dozen players whose contracts were due to run out at the end of this season," he said. "I'm not sure who was responsible for that state of affairs, but it put the club in a very poor position. It is very difficult to make plans for next season because we probably won't know for some time which players are likely to stay with us."

Key men Matt Joseph, Jody Craddock, Micah Hyde, Scott Barrett and Paul Raynor will all be out of contract at the end of June and free to join other clubs. United would then have to rely on Football League tribunals to set transfer fees, likely to be lower than if they were negotiated directly by the clubs. Craddock attracted bids earlier this season from Oxford and Preston North End, with Wigan reportedly interested too, while Hyde was watched recently by Coventry City's Ron Atkinson and Gordon Strachan. Barrett and Joseph - along with Tony Richards - have consistently been linked with a reunion with former boss Tommy Taylor at Leyton Orient, but whether that would be a step forward for a player of Joseph's ability is highly questionable.

Danny Granville, who joined Chelsea last month in a £300,000 move, was named among the substitutes for England Under-21s match against Georgia at The Valley, and he can hardly believe how his life has changed in the last six weeks.

"It's probably good that I haven't had much time to think about it all," he told the C.E.N. "I've been so busy playing and training I don't think what's happened has really sunk in. Just getting the transfer to Chelsea was amazing. I was hoping to get a first team game as soon as possible, but it didn't seem possible before next season. It's all happened a bit fast, but I'm pretty sure I won't get carried away."

Danny was a half-time substitute and slotted in at left-back. He looked completely at home and coolly played himself out of trouble several times, and in the forty-five minutes he made a couple of excellent tackles and had a good shot on goal. The match ended 0-0. The Sky TV commentators were positively drooling over him and one said he couldn't remember ever seeing a better debut appearance. Several times they mentioned that he was playing Third Division football at the Abbey just weeks ago, and he was interviewed after the match along with Arsenal's Steven Hughes, the MoM. Studio expert Ray Wilkins said Danny could be very pleased with his performance. I felt ridiculously proud of him! :-)

Despite the way his own career has changed in recent weeks, he spared a thought for his former team-mates: "I'm sorry United won't be at Wembley in the play- offs now this season. I feel for the lads that they missed out in the end."

Saturday's defeat at Spotland ended United's hopes of reaching the play-offs, but - quite rightly - will not have an impact on Roy McFarland's future at the club.

Chairman Reg Smart said, "Winning promotion was not a condition of Roy's terms of employment. He has worked hard for the club, and he's gelled with the players. I'm certainly not aware of any problem in the changing room. We've often played well without getting the results, although obviously there were too many off days. It was very disappointing to miss the play-offs when we were so well-placed at one stage, but who can say what might have happened if Tommy Taylor had remained in charge?"

Most supporters are agreed that when Tommy Taylor left for Leyton Orient in November, the club were second in the table more by good luck than irresistable form. The departure of prolific on-loan striker Scott McGleish probably had more bearing on the slump to tenth than the change of manager. McFarland has signed just three players so far: Ian Ashbee is young and has yet to have a run in the side in a settled position, so criticism of him is premature; Colin Foster and Paul Wilson arrived on-loan last month and are exactly what we need - experienced, specialist players - and they have already become very popular on the terraces. If McFarland can make their moves permanent and bring in more players of their ilk to replace the ones who move on, we can look forward to next season with more than the usual optimism.

In the meantime, three of the players missing on Saturday - Micah Hyde, Jamie Barnwell and Paul Wilson - will be available again for Saturday's match against Championship-chasing Fulham. United supporters in the packed Abbey Stadium will be looking for revenge for October's 0-3 defeat at Craven Cottage.

There is better news from the youth team, who managed a creditable 0-0 draw against a more experienced Charlton side on Saturday. Youth team manager David Batch said it was a good result but he was not so pleased with the performance, telling the youngsters to take three touches or less in the second half after they were guilty of dwelling on the ball too long in the first half.

United's hopes of the Promotion Play-Offs ended here in deep, damp Lancashire. We were never at the races in the first half of this match while Rochdale netted three times and looked likely to score every time they went forward. Their best effort was Alex Stuart's opening goal, a stunning volley on 16 minutes, and sadly they looked like the side striving for the Play-Offs while our players looked as though they couldn't wait for their summer break to start. Stuart bagged another on 39 while Mark Russell added insult to injury with a superb free kick two minutes before half-time.

United were more lively after the break and had their best chance of the game on 51 when Jody Craddock met a Paul Raynor cross with a good header, but his effort was cleared off the line. Michael Kyd looked the player most likely to make a difference with his pace, power and willing runs, but inexplicably he was withdrawn halfway through the second half for Trevor Benjamin. The big teenage striker has been in great form for the reserves and did have a strike at goal shortly after coming on but his shot was wide.

At the other end only brave goalkeeping from Scott Barrett kept the scoreline down. In fairness we were lacking four first-choice players in Micah Hyde, Jamie Barnwell, Paul Wilson and the influential Matt Joseph, but our season now lies in tatters after we had such high hopes in the Autumn. I'm feeling pretty low as I'm sure you are. :-(

We dropped to tenth in the table this evening, with Lincoln and Colchester moving above us to lurk just outside the final play-off place.

United line-up: Barrett, Ashbee, Hayes, Preece, Craddock, Raynor, Wanless, Beall, Taylor, Kyd (Benjamin 63), Foster (Marc Joseph 46).
Sub not used: Williamson.
Ref: A Bates (Stoke-on-Trent).

Some newspapers and the "chat page" on the official Chelsea web site have been carrying the story that captain Micah Hyde will sign for Chelsea in the summer, following the path taken by Danny Granville in March. They claim that the London club wanted to sign Micah at the same time as Danny but Roy McFarland wanted to keep the talented midfielder until the end of the season.

Micah will be out of contract in the summer and Coventry City are also among the clubs believed to be keen on him, with Ron Atkinson and Gordon Strachan making special trips to watch him recently.

Micah is one of three players who will miss tomorrow's match at Spotland through suspension - Jamie Barnwell and Paul Wilson the others - whilst ever-present defender Matt Joseph is struggling with a groin injury. 'Billy' Beall, Marc Joseph and Adi Hayes are added to the squad.

Roy McFarland also has Ian Ashbee and Colin Vowden ready to step in but spoke highly of the three youngsters: "The reserves have won six of their last seven games, and I've noted the way Billy and Adi in particular have got on with the job after dropping out of the first team. They've both had a fair bit of experience this season, so they are not raw rookies, and they'll be hungry to have another go in the League. Marc Joseph has also been doing well and is certainly in contention for a place tomorrow."

The unofficial Rochdale web site is here.

As if we weren't already aware of the importance of the last two League fixtures of the season, Scott Barrett has increased the nail-biting tension! Speaking to the Abbey Update he confirmed that the players know just how important are the next two games. First he looked back at the weekend's disappointing 1-1 draw with Brighton:

"In the three previous games we had kept clean sheets, and in my time at the club we've never had four on the trot so we were disappointed not to get the four. Brighton were different to when we played at their place, they had a lot to play for and in the end I think it was a fair result."

On Saturday's match at Rochdale he commented, "It's a vital game - both of the last two are. It's vital that we win to have any chance of the Play-Offs. It's entirely in our own hands."

In his opinion the final League fixture at home to Fulham is going to be "The biggest game of the season!" With Fulham needing the points for the Championship and United for the Play-Offs no-one is any doubt of what a huge match it will be, but Scott is concentrating on Rochdale for now:

As if our failure to beat bottom club Brighton was not enough, Roy McFarland is facing selection problems for our last away league game of the season - Saturday's trip to Rochdale.

Ever-present defender Matt Joseph was stretchered off against Brighton and he has a groin injury that could rule him out of the last two league matches. He suffered the injury after stretching for the ball in a challenge on the half-way line. Additionally three players will be ineligible due to suspension: On-loan left-back Paul Wilson, who has made a great impression during his six games, skipper Micah Hyde, and striker Jamie Barnwell who completes a two-match ban.

"We have to do it the hard way now," said manager Roy McFarland. "It will be a test of the depth of our squad, but I'm confident we have the people to come in and do a good job."

In view of our current inability to finish off opponents, and the strong, late form of teams like Northampton, Swansea and Chester, we have to hope the manager is right.

Ex-Cambridge United star, Danny Granville, who joined Chelsea last month, has been included in the England Under-21 squad named today. This comes after he made his first start for the London club on Saturday after two substitute appearances, setting up the winning goal for Mark Hughes with a deep run and cross, and is a huge compliment to United's youth setup.

United scored first in a match that we really needed to win to stay in the chase for play-off places, but battling Brighton came back and could have taken all three points before the final whistle.

Roy McFarland named an unchanged team after our first away win of the year last weekend, and the only change to the fourteen on duty was teenager Trevor Benjamin on the bench for the suspended Jamie Barnwell. We took the lead through Paul Wanless on 14 minutes, after he met a John Taylor flick-on to volley home in front of the Abbey's biggest crowd of the season. However Brighton never looked like lying down and rewarded their loyal support of almost 3,000 with an equaliser after 28 minutes. Robbie Reinelt was allowed too much room to meet a Paul McDonald cross and he blasted the ball in at the far post.

Just seven minutes later John Taylor had a chance to restore our lead but his shot hit the post, and after the break it was nearly all Brighton. With the wind behind them they carved through our midfield and defence almost at will and even the normally unflappable Matt Joseph and Jody Craddock had their shaky moments. Brighton had three good chances through ex-Southampton man Craig Maskell and he and Reinelt proved lively opponents. Luckily Maskell wasted a golden opportunity in the 58th minute by firing wide of an open goal while Reinelt also squandered a great chance when put through in the 74th by Maskell. In between those chances it looked as if John Taylor might have scored when he put the ball in the net but the referee ruled it out for handball.

McFarland tried to freshen up our attack by sending Trevor Benjamin on for the non-stop Michael Kyd after 73 minutes but just three minutes later he was forced into another change when Matt Joseph was stretchered off, to be replaced by Ian Ashbee. The extent of Matty's injury is not yet known.

In the dying moments both keepers kept their teams in the game with vital saves - Scott Barrett stopping another Maskell drive and Mark Ormerod denying Micah Hyde by tipping his shot over the cross bar.

"We were edgy," said Roy McFarland. "I hoped the early goal would settle us, but we never looked comfortable. We went closer than Brighton to winning it once or twice, but in the end I couldn't grumble about the 1-1 result."

We stay just outside the play-off places at eighth in the table, Northampton's and Chester's wins over Exeter and Scarborough catapulting them into fifth and sixth places respectively. But it remains very close at the top.

United line-up: Barrett, Matt Joseph (Ashbee 76), Wilson, Preece, Craddock, Raynor, Wanless, Hyde, Taylor, Kyd (Benjamin 73), Foster.
Sub not used: Williamson.

Brighton have sold all 2,000 away tickets for tomorrow's game but there could well be 1,000 more in other parts of the ground, ensuring a heated atmosphere at the Abbey for this crunch match. Despite United travelling to second-bottom Hartlepool last weekend and taking the points, Brighton will not be looking to return the favour as we seek points towards a Play-Off place while they come to fight for their very League survival.

Since the November appointment of Steve Gritt as manager the Seagulls have staged a remarkable revival on their own ground, winning nine games and drawing twice, but on their travels they have only taken only five points all season, winning just once - at Hartlepool.

Brighton will be without leading striker Ian Baird today, as he completes a two match ban, but their confidence will be high after beating table-topping Wigan last Saturday. United will be without Jamie Barnwell, suspended for two games after his last-minute sending off at Cardiff City, but he was on the bench last week as Michael Kyd ran the Hartlepool defence ragged.

Talking to the Cambridge Evening News today, John Taylor reckons he has a great chance of a second play-off success with Cambridge United. With three games to go the only man in the squad to play in the 1990 final victory over Chesterfield believes the team have hit top form at the right time.

"The performance at Hartlepool was probably the best since I came back before Christmas," he said. "I was talking to Paul Baker after the match. He's assistant manager there as well as a player, and he was really impressed. He told me they put the same side out against Colchester and Leyton Orient and had good wins, but they couldn't get near us."

After last night's Division Three games we dropped to eighth in the table when Colchester won 2-1 at Hull to move above us on goals scored - although they have played a game more. Cardiff were held 0-0 at home by Scunthorpe and move two points ahead of us in fifth.

The club are giving the Habbin Stand over to visiting supporters for the final fixture of the season against promoted Fulham, on May 3rd - a total of 4,400 tickets. Habbin season ticket holders will have the option of sitting in the Main Stand at no extra cost, and the move will no doubt create a cauldron-like atmosphere for the final game, with United probably still needing the points for a Play-Off place and Fulham ready to celebrate going up in front of several thousand travelling fans.

Jody Craddock has been voted one of the best eleven players in Nationwide Division Three by his fellow professionals.

Craddock

The PFA awards were presented last night and while Premiership stars Alan Shearer and David Beckham won the main individual awards Jody was included in the PFA team for Division Three. This comes just two days after netting his first U's goal of the season, against Hartlepool.

The full line-up was: 1. Tony Caig (Carlisle), 2. Ian Hendon (Leyton Orient), 3. Owen Archdeacon (Carlisle), 4. Roberto Martinez (Wigan), 5. Dean Walling (Carlisle), 6. Jody Craddock (Cambridge United), 7. Warren Aspinall (Carlisle), 8. Gareth Ainsworth (Lincoln), 9. Graeme Jones (Wigan), 10. Mike Conroy (Fulham), 11. Jan Molby (Swansea).

Roy McFarland has appealed to the supporters for help in Saturday's match when Brighton are the visitors. The bottom of the league club have been allocated 2,000 tickets for their supporters but coaches are being organised from the south coast and there are expected to be many Seagulls fans in other areas of the ground.

United did Brighton a favour by beating next-to-bottom Hartlepool on Saturday but can expect no easy Play-Off points on Saturday. Brighton are scrapping for their lives and have experienced a resurgence under new manager Steve Gritt, although prolific striker Ian Baird completes a two match suspension and misses the game at the Abbey Stadium.

McFarland urged: "This in one in which our supporters can play a very important part. They are going to bring thousands with them, we don't want the Abbey Stadium sounding like their Goldstone Ground."

United eased back into the Play-Off places with a good away win at struggling Hartlepool, courtesy of Michael Kyd's eighth goal of the campaign and Jody Craddock's first. The margin could have been a lot bigger if we had a sharper cutting edge, but the two goals will come as a relief after only one in the last three games.

Michael Kyd got the nod ahead of Jamie Barnwell and lined up in an otherwise unchanged team, while Davey Williamson was rewarded for some fine reserve form with a place on the bench. Recent games have seen the U's dominate without scoring and today we could and probably should have scored at least four by half-time, having to settle for Michael Kyd's 20 yard strike after 25 minutes. We failed to build on that dominance after the break, despite nearly every outfield player having an effort on goal. Hartlepool caused a few flutters as they started to string some passes together, causing some anxious moments to the travelling supporters as well as the players on the pitch. But the match was put beyond Hartlepool's reach seven minutes from time when Jody Craddock charged upfield and met a Paul Raynor cross with a powerful header.

With Chester City losing to Cardiff and Lincoln drawing at Exeter in a six goal thriller we move up into seventh place, level on points with Chester but above them because of more goals scored. We must maintain the goal scoring form if we want to stay there.

United line-up: Barrett, Matt Joseph, Wilson, Preece, Craddock, Raynor, Wanless, Hyde, Taylor, Kyd (Barnwell 78), Foster.
Subs not used: Ashbee, Williamson.
Booked: Kyd 59 (foul)

Tomorrow's trip to second-from-bottom Hartlepool United will be a big test for the U's. Hartlepool are fighting for their league lives and they have been revitalised since transfer deadline day when manager Mick Tait brought in five new faces, since when they have notched home wins over Colchester and Leyton Orient.

Tait has told his players that they could win their relegation battle tomorrow if they beat United, and Brighton lose, but United manager Roy McFarland knows the size of the task.

Aware that a defeat would almost certainly end our hopes of the play-offs he stressed: "We have to be prepared for a very hard game, but we have a lot to play for as well."

Meanwhile Steve Greenall's opposite number at Cardiff City, secretary Ceri Whitehead, has reacted with surprise to the accusations made this week by a supporter who was injured at Ninian Park last Saturday.

He described the man alleged to have been involved in a violent incident with a Cambridge United fan, as "one of our most experienced and respected stewards. I'm very surprised the steward identified by the Cambridge supporters is being accused of mistreating someone.

Carlisle United secured the last automatic promotion slot tonight by drawing 0-0 with Mansfield Town live on Sky TV. The other Division Three game saw Colchester move above United into eighth by beat fourth-placed Swansea 3-1, although we could move as high as sixth by winning tomorrow if Northampton or Cardiff slip up.

The disciplinary points have mounted up and our promotion hopes have been hit by suspensions for three key players.

Skipper Micah Hyde, striker Jamie Barnwell and on-loan defender Paul Wilson, who has made a great impression in his four games so far, will all miss the match at Rochdale on April 26th.

In addition, Barnwell will miss the earlier home clash with Brighton a week on Saturday, after receiving the red card in the last minute at Cardiff.

United will be supporting calls from their fans for action against a Cardiff City steward, after supporter Colin Parsfield was left with cuts and bruises to his face after an incident with the steward at the end of Saturday's match at Ninian Park. Club Secretary Steve Greenall said: "The reaction of a lot of our fans does question the crowd control methods at the match."

Speaking on Sky TV tonight, Barnet's Alan Mullery threw cold water on our play-off hopes in a Nationwide League programme.

When asked what happens to play-off hopefuls who lose form in the final third of the season, he replied bluntly, "They won't go up."

Mullery, who was recently removed from his post as director of football at Barnet after a string of poor results, continued, "Roy McFarland has done a reasonable job there. Tommy Taylor had them in a similar position and Roy has kept the momentum going but we beat them 2-1 at our place recently."

He concluded, "Cardiff have bought players at the right time of the season and they must have a good chance."

Despite some of the best sustained attacking football we have played all season we again failed to score last night, although Trevor Benjamin came off the bench to show he is not far from Roy McFarland's thoughts.

The manager has set a target of two wins from the last four games to achieve our play-off target.

"Everybody is dropping points, and I think that would do it for us, We played some marvellous football in the first half and their goalkeeper kept them in it. Unfortunately we lost our way a bit later in the second half and started hitting longer balls which is not our game."

With matches running out there was a lot at stake for both teams tonight and the atmosphere was always going to be tense. Northampton's players seemed keen to get the most from any 50-50 challenges and often went to ground, leading to some bad-tempered exchanges in front of the biggest league attendance at the Abbey this season.

Once again, and as so often before this season, we played well and dominated for long spells without scoring the all-important goals. In such circumstances there was always the danger of a Northampton breakaway but Jody Craddock, Matt Joseph and on-loan Paul Wilson were imperious in defence. Meanwhile Jamie Barnwell (twice) and Paul Wilson both drew excellent saves from the Cobblers' goalkeeper Andy Woodman. The visitors' best chance came just before the break but Jason White sliced his shot wide.

Trevor Benjamin was brought off the bench for Barnwell on 74 minutes but even his exuberance could not swing the balance our way, and despite the U's good performance Northampton will be the happier with their point.

After results elsewhere Fulham and Wigan can both celebrate promotion to Division Two whilst Rotherham know they are travelling the opposite path in the summer. Carlisle suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at lowly Darlington and will have to keep their champagne on ice a little longer. Of the teams around us Cardiff shared the points with Doncaster after a thrilling 3-3 draw, Colchester lost 1-0 at Wigan and Mansfield held Fulham to a 0-0 draw. We stay 8th in the table but clubs like Lincoln are now breathing down our necks.

United line-up: Barrett, Matt Joseph, Wilson, Preece, Craddock, Raynor, Wanless, Hyde, Taylor, Barnwell (Benjamin 74), Foster.
Subs not used: Ashbee, Kyd.
Booked: Wanless 30 (foul), Wilson 34 (foul), Hyde 85 (foul).

17:15pm - Northampton boss Ian Atkins has attempted to raise the temperature for tonight's derby clash by making some critical comments about the Cambridge United board. Atkins was appointed to the United hot-seat ahead of Gary Johnson after John Beck left, but he was sacked after failing to prevent relegation from the old Division Two in 1993. He appears to still harbour a grudge and in today's C.E.N. he has referred to the departure of Tommy Taylor in November, saying "What happened to Tommy was a disgrace."

Atkins brings former Abbey favourite Danny O'Shea with him tonight, as his player/assistant-manager, and O'Shea at least should receive a warm welcome.

Saturday's visit to Cardiff City ended with some angry clashes between travelling U's and Cardiff stewards, after Jamie Barnwell was dismissed in the last minute. Some supporters have claimed that the stewards were aggressive when our fans moved forward to shout at the referee and punches were exchanged. United have received several letters of complaint and at least one supporter is making his grievances known to the Football Association: Colin Parsfield, a 20-year-old cabinet maker, was hurt during the disturbance.

Jamie Barnwell could face a club fine following his last minute sending-off at Cardiff on Saturday.

Manager Roy McFarland seemed less than impressed with his player's actions when he said, "Jamie told the referee in no uncertain terms what he thought of him. You just can't win if you do that, and now we are going to lose a player for a game or two. I haven't been happy with some of the decisions in recent games, but in this match I thought the officials were excellent, and I've no complaints."

Barnwell will miss two of our last five crucial matches - the home game against Brighton and the trip to Rochdale - after arguing an offside decision with referee George Cain.

"There were two off-sides given in quick succession," explained Barnwell, "and I told the referee his linesman was having a nightmare. If you considered the consequences you wouldn't get involved with the referee, but things happen on the spur of the moment. I didn't expect a red card though for what I said."

There are a couple of injury worries ahead of tomorrow's play-off derby clash with Northampton. Paul Wanless was hampered by a calf strain on Saturday but he hopes a couple of days rest will allow him to start, while on-loan Colin Foster suffered a bruised and grazed eyebrow in a clash of heads but should be fit for tomorrow.

This was a dire and dreadful match between two sides who played more like relegation candidates than play-off hopefuls.

Roy McFarland sent out an unchanged side for this encounter with sixth-placed Cardiff, with Paul Wilson fit to take up his left-back slot after being carried off the pitch on Monday. The spectators at Ninian Park were treated to a contest between two sides who had seemingly forgotten how to pass to their own teammates, and the main event of the afternoon was Jamie Barnwell's dismissal in the closing seconds which sparked a confrontation between travelling U's and some stewards.

We made a bright start, forcing several corners, and Barnwell had the first real chance after five minutes when his header was cleared off the line. Wilson and Wanless also had chances before Scott Barrett was forced into a fine save when a Cardiff forward was left in the clear.

After the break it was more of the same but the few chances we did create came to nought for the lack of a bright and prolific striker. Micah Hyde set up Barnwell early on but the shot was saved at his feet. John Taylor saw an overhead kick go just wide but he was subdued today although his service was not good, while Matt Joseph had a great game in defence and was largely responsible for keeping the few Cardiff attacks at bay. The Seagulls brought Steve White off the bench but even he, who scored at will against us last season, could not raise the excitement level.

That was to come in the dying moments of the match. Jamie Barnwell had used his pace to good effect on the wings but twice in quick succession he was caught offside in possibly dubious decisions. Then a free-kick was given deep in the Cambridge half and the striker made his frustration clear to the referee, and once the kick was taken play was stopped again. Barnwell and the referee exchanged words and Barnwell received his marching orders. This was the trigger for some of our travelling fans to run to the front of the terrace and shout at the referee whereupon a scuffle broke out between some of our supporters and some apparently over-zealous Cardiff stewards. Punches were exchanged and some of our supporters will be travelling home with more than aching hearts.

Each result seems to throw even more importance onto the next match, and this is no exception. We stay eighth but Lincoln's win means they are now just one point behind having played a game more, while Tuesday's visitors Northampton are a point ahead of us in sixth. The competition for play-off places is getting closer and closer and we need to rediscover winning ways before the chasing pack pass us by.

United line-up: Barrett, Matt Joseph, Wilson, Ashbee (Preece 74), Craddock, Raynor, Wanless, Hyde, Taylor, Barnwell, Foster.
Subs Not Used: Marc Joseph, Kyd.
Booked: Craddock 1 (foul), Sent off: Barnwell (90).

Our two deadline day loan signings face late fitness tests before tomorrow's crucial clash at Cardiff. Left-back Paul Wilson sustained knee and ankle injuries in the defeat by Lincoln on Easter Monday, and centre-half Colin Foster is suffering from blistered feet.

After missing most of the season at Watford with back problems Foster only recently started playing again in the Vicarage Road reserves, and the strain of two games in three days is telling.

United could face a popular ex-U in the Cardiff team tomorrow. Craig Middleton is included in the squad to face United after recurrent problems with a dislocated shoulder led to him being released by Tommy Taylor at the end of last season. He was signed up by Gary Johnson, then in charge at Kettering Town, but soon afterwards Phil Neal snapped him up for Cardiff to renew their acquaintance from Coventry City days. He got goals from midfield for United but hopefully will not score tomorrow!

Roy McFarland spoke about the Easter fixtures and looked ahead to the rest of the season, while preparing for Saturday's important game at Cardiff. Notably the team will have the luxury of an overnight stop in preparation for a "six-pointer" on Saturday.

Speaking to the Abbey Update and looking back at the two defeats last weekend he was "Obviously disappointed we've had no return in terms of points. In terms of performance we can be pleased with the way we have played. I can't knock our football but maybe we got a bit sloppy defensively and we didn't take the chances we made.

"Lincoln should have been dead and buried long before they got near an equaliser."

Looking ahead to sixth-placed Cardiff he warned,"It is a six-pointer and also Northampton at home (the following Tuesday) becomes a six-pointer too."

Northampton trail United by just one point and the following Saturday we travel to Hartlepool who are fighting for Third Division survival. McFarland is well aware of the traps that lie ahead: "No games are going to be easy. I've said all along it will go to the final day of the season."

The reserves played Rushden and Diamonds yesterday and goals from Davey Williamson and Trevor Benjamin earned a 2-2 draw.

It was revealed today that Roy McFarland tried to bring Scott McGleish back to the Abbey Stadium on transfer deadline day. The striker was hugely popular with the supporters during his spell here on loan from Peterboring, during which he scored seven goals in eleven games. However he chose to follow Tommy Taylor to Leyton Orient instead of making the move permanent. In his absence our problem has been failing to convert domination and chances into goals and he snatched another brace on Monday just to rub salt into an open wound.

McFarland disclosed today that Orient wanted two players in exchange for the popular Scot but would not reveal the names of the players concerned. However the C.E.N. quotes ex-United boss Tommy Taylor: "McFarland said he would swap any two United players excluding Jody Craddock for McGleish."

Taylor claims the players he wanted were Matt Joseph and Tony Richards but the deal which might have seen McGleish return broke down over Joseph's inclusion.

Joseph and Richards will both be out of contract in the summer if they do not accept the terms currently on offer and there is already speculation that they will link up with their old boss in London.

Despite seeing our team slip outside the top seven for the first time since mid-September, Roy McFarland said, "We're still playing well."

There was a touch of fortune about all of Lincoln's goals but nonetheless the second defeat of the Easter weekend leaves a serious question over our play-off credentials.