Cambridge United Football Club 1-0 Plymouth Argyle: Happy Talk Andrew Bennett reports... It’s not often that you get to fulfil a dream. Most of us will never get to play for our beloved U’s like Luke Chadwick has, or have a No.1 hit single with a radical modern reinterpretation of “I’ve Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts,” or get to push the button that sends Katie Price and her ilk on a one-way mission to Uranus, or sign a declaration that Peterborough has been ceded from the United Kingdom and is now a satellite of Uzbekistan. But 5,000 Cambridge United fans achieved a long-standing dream today: they saw their team back in the Football League, winning its first game with the deciding goal scored by one of their own. Nine years of hurt were assuaged today, longer if you include that dismal last season in the League; almost a decade of struggle, underachievement, near-success then failure, depression and a litany of names that we never want to see or hear again: Alfreton, Canvey Island, Farsley, Histon, Stafford, Northwich, and many, many more. “We’ve never heard of you,” indeed. The Abbey Stadium on Saturday was a joyous place to be. The energy and enthusiasm leapt out at you from every gaily coloured corner, all was smiles, hope and anticipation, from those in black and amber and those visitors in green, still flushed with that opening-day-of-the-season excitement which sometimes lasts all the way to the final whistle. The media was here, from Sky Sports News, from The Football League Show, from Radio Five Live, from Look East and About Anglia. We existed again. The dreamlike nature of the day extended to the choice of music played over the loudspeakers, from the predictable (“The Boys Are Back In Town,” “Back In Black”) to the unexpected (Vera Lynn’s “We’ll Meet Again”) to the downright surreal (the theme from “Rainbow”). It was that kind of occasion. Instead of Braintree, Eastleigh and Dover, the fixture list says Birmingham, Portsmouth, Tranmere, Carlisle, Northampton, Shrewsbury and Southend. We are with our peers again after being the tall, awkward kid who has been kept down a year with the little ones for far too long. The programme confirmed it with its “Back Into The League” logo on the front, echoing the “Into The League” message which was on the cover of all of United’s issues in the 1970-71 season. Over 6,000 fans crammed into the Abbey to celebrate the dawning of a new era, including an impressive number from deepest darkest Devon that all but filled the South Stand; now this is the sort of proper club we should be playing every week. Plymouth are something of a sleeping/comatose giant at this level and managed to flirt with the play-offs for a time last season after years of dismal underachievement. Their team included a few passably familiar names such as Reuben Reid and Carl McHugh, and one regrettably infamous name in goalkeeper Luke McCormick. United line-up: Dunn; Tait, Bonner, Coulson, G.Taylor; Donaldson, Diallo, Champion, Dunk; Appiah, Cunnington On the bench: Norris, Lennon, Hunt, Austin, Chadwick, Sam-Yorke, Simpson To no great surprise, the starting XI was the same as which faced Spurs last week, with the added Sky Bet League luxury of seven substitutes, although only three could be used. Apart from newcomer to this country Issa Diallo, six of the eleven had never played in the Football League before: Richard Tait, Tom Bonner, Josh Coulson, Greg Taylor, Harrison Dunk and Tom Champion, while subs Norris, Hunt, Austin and Sam-Yorke had not played at such a level either. The match started in bright sunshine and with an expectant roar and, understandably, Plymouth settled first, winning a succession of corners in the first few minutes. United pulled every player back into the box for each one except for two men who stood ten yards away from the corner D where the visitors were taking their set pieces, all short corners which failed without exception to trouble the U’s defence. Argyle’s lack of quality in crosses and set pieces was to become a feature of the match. United produced their first flowing move on 6, Adam Cunnington finding Kwesi Appiah who spread it wide to Ryan Donaldson; his low cross found Appiah at the near post, but he miscued his shot wide under pressure. Curtis Nelson then fired over when another corner was not cleared properly, but the first major incident came on 11. Appiah advanced down the left channel and aimed a cross at Donaldson on the right, but McHugh instinctively blocked it with his arm: a clear penalty. Cunnington stepped up to take it, but his kick was truly feeble, trundled at McCormick with such a lack of pace or disguise that the keeper could have turned around and sat on it. This was not how the dream was supposed to turn out. The teams continued to push and probe each other, both regularly misdirecting passes to the opposition and trying to use balls over the top to send their front men away, but the supply line was of highly variable quality. Appiah won a free-kick just outside the box on 18 when he was fouled by Peter Hartley but Donaldson hit it straight into the wall and his follow-up chip found Cunnington in an offside position. Jason Banton was giving Tait a trying time on the Plymouth left, although his reliance on his right foot soon made him fairly predictable. He set up Reid for a diving header on 22, but it did not have the accuracy to trouble Chris Dunn. United’s defenders threw their bodies at everything, blocking most goal attempts before they could get through to the keeper, and Tom Bonner even took one in the face from Lee Cox but soldiered on manfully. Appiah was not so lucky with an accidental blow to the face on the half hour and the players gratefully took the opportunity to get some drinks on board. Three minutes later Donaldson embarked on a brilliant slalom run from deep in his own half past several opponents before flicking it to Cunnington, whose mishit cross-cum-shot almost sailed over McCormick’s head until he tipped it over the bar. United came even closer to breaking the deadlock from the ensuing corner when Bonner met it unmarked ten yards out but his header bounced down then up over the bar off the springy verdant green surface. The U’s now had the bit between their teeth and the dangerous Appiah came close on 36 when his shot flew just the wrong side of the upright, but Plymouth remained dangerous themselves, Lewis Alessandra wriggling past Coulson and shooting from an acute angle when he should really have laid it back to a colleague. The match was competitive but never nasty, although Cox was fortunate to escape with just a lecture from referee Graham Scott for a foul on Appiah on 41. Argyle finished the half in the ascendant with two good chances in added time: first Alessandra hared for goal with Coulson in pursuit and Dunn appeared to have come off his line too soon, but his attempted lob plopped straight into the keeper’s arms, then Reid cut inside from the left and tried to catch Dunn off guard, but his powerful shot was batted away to safety. Thus ended an absorbing, hard-fought first half in which United had held their own with grit, determination (Champion seemed to be everywhere) and no little skill on occasion, too. They would step it up a level after the interval. The crowd enjoyed hearing the half-time scores of their League 2 contemporaries over the PA, without any mention of those silly little part-time leagues lower down. That was all in the past. Cunnington had put himself about as best he could but lacked a little match sharpness and was replaced for part two by Robbie Simpson for his first game in black and amber since 2007, when his magnificent goalscoring exploits were so pivotal in keeping a struggling United afloat in the Conference when relegation might well have meant oblivion. Robbie is not a target man so stationed himself slightly deeper than Appiah and used his vision and nous to set up opportunities for himself and his colleagues. Appiah cheekily went directly for goal straight from the kick-off and forced a free-kick 25 yards out; Diallo took it, but it sailed high and wide. Such direct running worked again seven minutes later when Donaldson burst down the middle with team-mates either side of them, and when he finally slipped it to Tait just inside the box, his low drive was deflected over the bar by a diving McCormick. From the resultant corner Dunk chipped it to Appiah and his close-range header flew narrowly over. Plymouth responded with a break from Reid, who saw his shot blocked, but it rebounded to Ollie Norburn twelve yards out; his low drive for goal was accurate but lacked the power to trouble a gathering Dunn. Back came the U’s on the hour when a long ball over the top beat the entire Pilgrims defence and found Appiah stealing in behind them, and his shot was blocked by McCormick at the near post. A minute later United were ahead. Donaldson’s corner from the right was flicked on by Diallo and Josh Coulson pounced to crash a half-volley into the net from eight yards out. 1-0! How appropriate that United’s first goal back in the League should come from their longest serving player and a local boy who has supported the club all his life. Josh is rapidly becoming something of a legend on Newmarket Road, and the joy on his face was mirrored around three sides of the ground. We knew then that it was destined to be United’s day. Dunk then fired over as the U’s sought to seal it, and McCormick was lucky on 69 when he completely missed another corner and Hartley cleared from behind him. Marvin Morgan came on for Banton for the visitors a minute later, then Dunn stopped a Norburn drive before the latter was replaced by Dominic Blizzard. Plymouth were not out of it yet, and a Reid daisycutter on 76 looked bound for the bottom corner until gathered untidily by a diving Dunn. Delano Sam-Yorke then replaced Appiah and set about the Pilgrims’ defence in his usual bustling way, and on 80 Greg Taylor made the best chance yet for himself when he dispossessed Cox midway into the Plymouth half, bulldozed towards goal and just when he saw the whites of McCormick’s eyes, Simpson got in his way and he scuffed his shot wide with his left foot, the goal at his mercy from the D. The visitors’ last change saw Alessandra surprisingly withdrawn in favour of Nathan Thomas, and it would have to be said that none of their substitutions had any positive effect for them. Diallo miscued a cross intended for Dunk on 83 and found the top of the goalnet, then was replaced by Luke Chadwick for the last eight minutes, and his experience was invaluable in helping the team see out the remaining time, plus three added minutes that turned into four, in the right-hand corner of the pitch, well away from the United goal. Plymouth had no answer, and Thomas was shown the only yellow card of the afternoon in added time for a frustrated foul on Chadwick. So ended a thoroughly satisfactory first game back in the League, to rapturous and prolonged applause from the Amber Army. It had not been easy at times, and the defence had covered and blocked admirably, but the U’s had a cutting edge and a flair going forward that was superior to that of their opponents, and they just about deserved their hard-fought win. If United can grind out clean sheets and home wins like they did in the first half of last season, this division is their oyster. There was some abuse for the visitors from their own supporters after the match, which perhaps betrays their unrealistic expectations for today and maybe even the season. As Richard Money has said, You only have to read a few of the comments in the national press to understand that they have absolutely no idea of what weve got in our team. A perfect day was rounded off by the match’s first billing in the League 2 section of “The Football League Show” and some nice words from an all-time great CUFC legend, Dave Kitson. Not every day this season will be as good as today, we can be sure of that, but this was as good a start as any of us could have dreamed. Let us dream on. Statto Corner In nine seasons in the Conference, United only started with a home game three times. They lost 1-0 to Northwich Victoria in 2006, lost 2-0 to Barrow in 2009, and their only win came last season when they thrashed FC Halifax 5-1 live on TV with goals from Cunningon (2), Donaldson and Sam-Yorke (2). Only Chris Maxwell and Nathan Arnold of the team that started that match are no longer at the Abbey, while sub Luke Berry recently departed for Barnsley. The U’s opened their campaign with a home match 15 times in 35 seasons in their first spell in the Football League, winning 7, drawing 2 and losing 6. Their first ever League game was of course a 1-1 draw with Lincoln City on 15th August 1970, Colin Meldrum equalising Derek Trevis’ early goal 12 minutes from time. Their best wins were 3-0 over Derby County in 1980 in Division Two, George Reilly (2) and Derrick Christie the scorers, and 4-1 over Grimsby Town in 1988, in which Reilly again scored twice in his second spell at the club to accompany a brace from Laurie Ryan. Their worst defeat was 3-0 to Darlington in 1972, but they went on to be promoted from Division Four to Division Three at the end of the season. Adam Cunnington scored three penalties and missed one in league matches last season; in all United were successful seven times (Luke Berry also got three and Matt Gillies the other) and failed on five occasions (Ryan Donaldson twice, Kwesi Appiah and Ashley Chambers the other culprits). United had not missed so many penalties in one season since the 2001-02 season, when they scored five but failed seven times. Paul Wanless (2), Ian Ashbee, Luke Guttridge and Tom Youngs were successful, but Wanless (3), Ashbee, Youngs, Terry Fleming and, most famously, Lionel Perez in his last game for the U’s, all failed from the spot. The last season in which United did not miss any league penalties was 2008-09, when Chris Holroyd, Lee McEvilly and Scott Rendell all claimed three each. Player Ratings Dunn 8. A couple of moments of uncertainty, but had safe hands when it mattered. Tait 8. Fine defending after initial difficulties with winger Banton, and useful auxiliary attacker. Bonner 8. Has stepped into Ian Miller’s shoes admirably and convincingly. Coulson 9. Local boy made good in every conceivable way. Taylor 8. Like the rest of the back four, made the jump to the League seamlessly. Donaldson 8. A revelation on the right, not playing as a winger but roaming wherever his fancy took him to sometimes devastating effect. Champion 9. The lynchpin of the whole team. Diallo 7. Still room for improvement, but showed some very nice touches and has a natural authority about him. Dunk 8. Like Donaldson, at his best when unfettered by a conventional role and allowed to wander where he could do most damage. Appiah 8. A constant menace to the Plymouth defence and is surely destined to score a hatful this season. Cunnington 7. Did not appear to be at tip-top match fitness, but put himself about to decent effect. Shame about the penalty. Simpson 8. Highly effective when playing between Appiah and the midfield, using his intelligence to great effect. Sam-Yorke 7. Made himself a nuisance as only he can. Chadwick 7. Got little game time but his experience in running down the clock was invaluable at the end. Match Summary United overcame a nervous start to outplay an awkward Plymouth side to gain their first Football League points in ten years in fine and deserved style. If this is the required standard, we need have no worries at all about this season. Man of the Match Tom Champion. Tom was quite magnificent, always in the thick of the action and in the right place at the right time when it really mattered. Simply irreplaceable and a worthy captain. Ref Watch Scott 7. Might perhaps have got his cards out earlier, but kept the game flowing with a good lightness of touch. Soundtrack of the Day Gregory Porter “The ‘In’ Crowd”
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 08:17:08 +0000
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