Sunday 28th December - U's 1-1 Stevenage: A Bridge too far
2008 was the year of big numbers. Big, big numbers. The UK government coughed up £37 billion to keep a couple of the big banks going, Dubya gave $200 billion to his own Federal Reserve Board, $185 billion to AIG and lent GM and Chrysler $17 billion until March (when it will be President Obama's problem), the Irish propped their banks up with €10 billion, and the Italians, with their usual interesting priorities, put aside $50m to help out their cheesemakers, bless 'em. Woolies, however, could get stuffed. Meanwhile, in Zimbabwe, the annual inflation rate hit 89,700,000,000,000,000,000,000,000% last month.
But do these numbers, with all their hungry rows of noughts, really have much meaning any more? Today's billion can be tomorrow's nothing. Just ask Barry Fry, who was quoted a week before Christmas as saying "Rendell won't be staying on loan at Cambridge - that is a one billion percent certainty." So, welcome for the rest of the season, Scott [article]. That deflation rate in Peterborough is quite something, isn't it?
Rendell lined up today in the last game of his initial loan spell on a chilly day in that strange alternative universe that is the week between Christmas and New Year, when it is so easy to lose all track of what day it is. And that's before that triple JD and Coke for breakfast. Jon Challinor and Josh Coulson were stood down from Boxing Day's team, replaced by Dan Gleeson and Phil Bolland, while for the first time in a long while no substitute keeper was named on the bench.
Our burgeoning rivalry with Stevenage has rather taken a back seat with the emergence of the village people, and they managed to make the South Stand look even emptier than two days ago with barely 400 away fans in attendance. Two ex-U's lined up in red and white: Mark Albrighton, so outstanding in the first half of last season, and now sporting a rather less fearsome suedehead crop as opposed to the skinhead he had at the Abbey; and David Bridges, a fine player on his day but who gained the nickname 'The Invisible Man' due to his tendency to disappear for long periods during matches. By a strange happenstance, he was the only player on the park with a blank white space where his name should have been on the back of his shirt.
The visitors' third former United man, Lee Boylan, was absent through injury (just for a change), as was top scorer Steve Morison, leading to speculation as to his future after the club chairman's gloomy remarks last week about income 'falling off a cliff' this season and being over budget. Money again.
United made the best possible start, taking the lead inside three minutes. Albrighton cleared Rendell's header for a corner, and from Robbie Willmott's flag-kick, the routine that worked against Salisbury paid dividends again as Gleeson arrived late and unmarked in the box, received the ball in the far corner of the area and, controlling on his chest, fired low and goalward. Out of the sea of bodies appeared Rendell, poacher supreme, to touch home from close range: 1-0.
The visitors' defence looked vulnerable against the pace of Holroyd, Rendell and Willmott, and next minute the latter's free-kick almost found Wayne Hatswell's head before being cleared by Mark Roberts, his spiky bleach-blond hair making him look like a cross between CU Jimmy and Billy Idol.
Stevenage, however, gradually began to gain a foothold in the match, their midfield making its mark against a United central pairing of Ben Farrell and Paul Carden which looked subdued compared to their previous recent outings. Rendell's over-the-shoulder flick on 15 sent Holroyd galloping down the right channel, but with Willmott and Courtney Pitt arriving in the middle, his cross was sadly overhit.
Callum Willock had Boro's first shot a minute later, whistling low and wide from 25 yards, Bridges blasted into the stand, then Rendell's superb shot from the edge of the box drew a sprawling save from Chris Day, upon which Holroyd pounced to poke home, but he was foiled by the offside flag.
Back up the other end, Mitchell Cole's ball over the top sent Willock sprinting past a flat-footed Hatswell, and a goal seemed certain as he hared into the United area one-on-one with Potter, but the ex-Stevenage glovesman stood his ground and produced a magnificent reflex block.
First into the book was the visitors' Michael Bostwick on 24 for a blatant block on Holroyd. The ensuing free-kick was touched inside by Pitt to Hatswell, but his shot from the 'D' was not his best and it fizzed wide of the near post.
Three minutes later Bridges rampaged into the box, his first shot pawed out by Potter, and from the follow-up the Man With No Name had his on-target strike palmed away at the near post. Play now switched from end to end, the United forwards' pace and mobility asking question of the Boro defence with Willmott making several menacing runs but showing his inexperience by failing to release the ball at the right time. Stevenage's approach play was rather more basic, high hoofs towards the front two, and the United defence coped without too much trouble.
Holroyd appeared to be shoved to the floor in the penalty area by Roberts on 35, to apathy from the normally fussy ref, then Holroyd again was presented with an excellent chance for number two when a mix-up in the visitors' back line sent him sprinting clear on goal. Like Potter, Day stood his ground and when Holroyd flicked for goal, he stuck out a hand and did enough to divert it to safety. One one-on-one each.
Farrell fired wide from a partially cleared Pitt free-kick on 38, and with no further incident until half-time, the U's trooped to the dressing room ahead just as on Boxing Day and with the task of repeating their achievements in the second half. Still, at least it wasn't 2-0, because Our Gary says that is a dangerous lead. Lucky it was only 1-0, eh?
Part two resumed as competitively as ever, and first significant chance came on 51 when Carden fouled Andy Drury 25 yards out. Drury himself took the free-kick, arrowing it over the wall, and after initially taking a step the wrong way, Potter flung himself to his right to tip superbly round the post. The linesman signalled a corner, correctly, but to the amber hordes' merry amusement, the ref insisted that it was a goal-kick.
On 54 Bridges, trying it seems to prove some sort of point, clattered Rendell and received a deserved yellow card. A minute later Felino Jardim replaced Pitt, whose contribution had been fairly minimal, and his pace lifted United for a time. Farrell hammered a shot over the top from 25 yards, then Willmott found Rendell in the area but he tried to walk the ball into the net rather than take a shot and was eventually dispossessed. Anthony Tonkin latched onto the resultant clearance but had his Exocet of a shot blocked by Bostwick.
Rendell then lifted an intelligent angled ball to Willmott who was arriving at the far post, but the young winger could only find the side netting from the tightest of angles.
First change for Stevenage came on 63, Jerome Anderson replacing Eddie Anaclet, and four minutes Willmott saw yellow for a clumsy felling of the visitors' sub. Boro were now in the ascendant, United having lost the midfield and, it seemed, their ability to find a team-mate with a decent pass. Too many attempted passes were wildly ambitious cross-field balls instead of keeping it simple, while others were just inexplicably poor.
Bridges flattened Rendell with what looked like an elbow on halfway as they went for a high ball, and he was lucky to receive only an extended ticking-off rather a second yellow, although he continued to push his luck by answering back.
As United just about held on, the change they needed occurred on 77 when Challinor replaced Farrell, and three minutes later Rendell's shot from Carden's through ball was blocked by Albrighton, Challinor firing the rebound ambitiously over.
On 82 came what proved to be the turning point. A ball down the left towards Holroyd caught Albrighton off balance, and as he stumbled, the United man sprinted away from him towards goal. Entering the area, he had the choice of a shot towards the near post or squaring it to the unmarked Rendell, arriving to his right. Regrettably, he chose the wrong option to Rendell's frustration and his shot was easily gathered by Day. Had United gone two up then, surely victory would have been sealed.
Rendell hit another shot into the ground on 85, Day catching, then Boro made their second change, sending on Peter Vincenti in place of Drury. Four minutes' added time was indicated and the three points looked Cambridge bound.
Within seconds, however, Bridges had made a surging run down the middle then tumbled theatrically to the ground under challenge from Carden. Ref Bull awarded the softest of penalties, then to add insult to injury, showed a straight red to Gleeson who had presumably voiced what seven-eighths of those present thought of him. Never trust a referee who regards a naughty word as worthy of more severe punishment than a dangerous tackle.
Cole stepped up to slot home the penalty: 1-1. His colleague's celebrations were over the top to put it mildly, interacting with their supporters, but the ref was not interested in this transgression of the rules. You either apply all the laws, mate, or not at all, you can't pick and choose them at your whim.
Despite the visitors' prolonged cavorting, the remaining added time seemed a lot shorter than four minutes, and the final whistle heralded another muted, disappointed reaction from the amber army as another lead had slipped away into the darkening night.
In truth, as on Boxing Day, the result was probably fair over the ninety minutes, but to lose two points in such unnecessary fashion was particularly galling. In fact, United's overall performance had rarely approached the quality of the win over Salisbury or even the draw with Histon. But with a run of home games in course, it is vital to start picking up wins in an extremely competitive division.
Our Gary won't have a fortune to spend in January - join the club - but the Rendell news soon after the final whistle was welcome, to say the least. From now on it won't be about splashing the cash, but making the most of what we've got. We're not Italian cheesemakers, you know. Happy New Year.
Statto Corner
Scott Rendell has now scored in five consecutive games. That is a feat which he never achieved last season, although he did manage one run of four and four runs of three scoring games in a row.
The last United player to equal Scott's feat was Lee Boylan last term, scoring seven goals in five games from 1st March 2008, against York, Oxford, Farsley, Woking and Crawley.
The record holder, however, remains Trevor Benjamin, who found the net in eight consecutive matches in which he played from 4th March 2000, scoring exactly once in each game against Brentford, Bristol City, Scunthorpe, Wrexham, Luton, Oxford, Bury and Bristol Rovers. United did play a game against Oldham between the Oxford and Bury fixtures, losing 1-0, but Trevor did not take part.
Today saw Dan Gleeson's first red card in United colours. The other members of the current squad to have been dismissed are Rory McAuley, Lee McEvilly (still ours at least until the transfer window), Danny Potter, Paul Carden and Ben Farrell, who leads the way with two. He has some way to go, however, to match the club's record holder, the great Tom Finney, who was sent off five times in the black'n'amber. Runners-up with four are Danny O'Shea, Andy Duncan and Warren Goodhind.
Today's attendance was 3,351. The last and only previous time there was a crowd of exactly this size at the Abbey was on 1st March 1958, when United defeated March Town United 2-0 in the semi-final of the Cambs Invitation Cup with goals from Russell Crane and partially sighted goal machine Brian Moore. The final, at Milton Road, attracted a crowd of 8,422 for a 2-2 draw with Wisbech Town, and the U's went on to lose the replay 3-1, staged rather unfairly at Wisbech's Fenland Park.
Player Ratings
Potter 8. Rarely troubled, always in control, and ironically his best save was called as a goal-kick by the dismal ref.
Gleeson 8. Exemplary until that fateful red card at the end.
Bolland 8. Calmness personified.
Hatswell 8. I think he's forgotten how to have a bad game.
Tonkin 8. Defensively sound and effective supporting the attack.
Willmott 7. Always a danger, just needs to learn when to release the ball at times.
Farrell 6. Disappointingly quiet after an excellent Boxing Day, but still needs that run in the side.
Carden 7. Got through plenty of good work, although can still do much better.
Pitt 6. Still feeling his way back and unsurprising that he was replaced.
Holroyd 7. Constant threat and just a pity that he did not make the most of his two very good chances.
Rendell 8. Still scoring and leading the line with authority, he is also becoming increasingly Kitsonesque in his dropping deep and helping the defence, to great effect. There is no greater compliment.
Jardim 7. His lightning pace made him an effective weapon of terror to the Stevenage defence.
Challinor 6. Quietly decent last thirteen minutes.
Match Summary
United surrendered another two home points from a winning position thanks to some profligate finishing and some particularly poor decisions from a mediocre referee. A touch more steel will be needed in 2009.
Man of the Match
Dan Gleeson. Strong and decisive at the back, energetic and dangerous going forward on the overlap, an excellent performance was marred only by the delicate sensibilities of a ref who clearly thinks there is normally no swearing at football matches.
Ref Watch
Bull 2. The aptly-named man in black exemplified all that is unacceptable about refereeing at this level, breaking the game up with his intolerance towards any sort of physical contact, woeful inconsistency and completely losing the plot at the end. And his eyesight was no better. The fact that both sets of supporters sang "You don't know what you're doing" at him says it all.
Becky's World of Wit and Wisdom
"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death." [Stoke, 22/9/92]
Hello... Goodbye
Today's first birthday boy is Allan Harris (1942). The less notorious elder brother of Ron aka 'Chopper,' he joined United in the twilight of his career after spells at Chelsea, Coventry, QPR and Plymouth, but after only six games at left-back in the first half of the 1973-74 season, he departed for non-League Hayes.
Mark Watson (1973) played one less game for the U's on loan from West Ham in 1995-96, but at least notched one goal (a tap-in at Doncaster), albeit he was a striker so that was his job. A £50,000 signing for the Hammers from Sutton United, he never fulfilled his early promise and soon drifted into non-League, last seen at Margate.
This day in 1992 saw the United debut of one of the club's greatest strikers, Steve Butler, in a 2-2 draw at Watford. Unpopular at first, his diagnosis with a skeletal imbalance and its subsequent correction created an Abbey legend. His exploits in April 1994 will probably never be bettered: a hat-trick against Leyton Orient in a 3-1 win was followed by all five two days later in a 5-0 away battering of Exeter. He went on to score two more in a 5-4 home defeat by Huddersfield before notching his third hat-trick of the month in an unforgettable 7-2 battering of Cardiff at Ninian Park. Now there is a target for Mr Rendell to aim for.
Some rather less celebrated debutants on this day were striker Dean Neal (a 1-0 home win over Scarborough in 1987), centre-back John Philliben (a 1-0 defeat at Southend, 1985) and Steve 'The Flasher' Guinan (in THAT goalless draw with eight-man Cardiff in 1999).
We said goodbye to Ipswich loanee keeper Lewis Price on this day in 2004 in an horrendous 5-3 home defeat by Yeovil. He has since gone on to play for Wales and joined Derby for £200,000, so he can't have been too traumatised by the experience.
Soundtrack of the Day
Futureheads 'I Wouldn't Be Like This If You Were Here'
Andrew Bennett
Andrew's previous match reports
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