U's 1-1 Oxford: What a Card
Thursday 29th January 2009 - U's 1-1 Oxford: What a Card
Speak to any fans of Celtic and Rangers, or the Milan clubs, or River Plate and Boca Juniors, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, or any number of rival English clubs, and they will tell you tales of fierce local rivalry, pitched battles of the sporting and unsporting variety, and mutual loathing going back for the best part of a hundred years.
As far as our own Mighty U's are concerned, our local skirmishes with Peterborough go back to the early 1970s, and before that, the traditional 'enemy' was dear old Cambridge City, a competition that climaxed in the notorious Cambs Professional Cup Final of 1968, abandoned due to fighting between players and spectators.
But that is a mere blink of an eye compared to the real Cambridge rivalry:
Town versus Gown. There has been friction between the down-to-Earth locals and posh-boy students ever since they first came to the town exactly 800 years ago, and footballing clashes can be traced back to 1561 when Thomas Parish, the local Head Constable, arranged a match between the residents of Chesterton and a University side. Mr Parish acted as referee, but his purpose was altogether more sinister as, on his signal, the local men abandoned the beautiful game, hastened to the nearby St Giles Church where Parish has instructed them to hide some staves, then returned duly armed to give the scholars a thorough thrashing. I reckon even John Beck would baulk at tactics as unsubtle as that.
There is no longer any formal Town vs Gown footballing contest, and in the relatively civilised 21st century relations are altogether more cordial between the two factions; last year's undergraduate take-on saw the highest intake of state sector admissions for 27 years, 59% of the total admissions. No accurate figures are available for the percentage of Uni students who attend the Abbey on a regular basis, but let's face it, any more than double figures would be something of a result; Nick Hornbys do not come along in great numbers.
Hornby, of course, was a U's supporter when at the University and was at every home game during the disastrous six-month winless run of 1983-84, a record which was only beaten by Derby last season, bless 'em. His account in 'Fever Pitch' of the last game of that season, when United finally beat Newcastle 1-0, brings the memories back for us old'uns, and his final lines about the U's sum up his experience nicely: "But the afternoon - eccentric, funny, joyful from one perspective and heartbreaking from another, private in a way that football usually isn't... was a perfect end to my relationship with the club. And sometimes, when it seems to me that supporting a First Division team is a thankless and indefensible chore, I miss them a lot." Not that the glory-hunting so-and-so has been back since...
The South Stand was packed with hundreds upon hundreds of temporary Hornbys from the Uni due to the club's latest recruitment initiative, and let us hope that the evening's experience might persuade them to drag themselves away from torrenting vintage sitcoms or poking people on Facebook or filming wacky stunts for their own channels on YouTube, or whatever it is young people get up these days. They're probably studying diligently or stacking shelves in Sainsbury's to supplement their student loans really.
The reason Setanta have chosen Cambridge vs Oxford so many times for live broadcast is not Town vs Gown, of course, or even the clubs' status as two of the best supported clubs in the BSP, but ye olde Varsity rivalry, notwithstanding the lack of links between those fine and ancient educational institutions and the much younger football clubs who occupy the same cities. Just don't call it a 'derby,' eh?
Our Gary was left with a selection dilemma after the Wrexham debacle, not only as regards personnel but with the fundamental decision of what formation to play. He chose to ignore the wing-back system which looked so impressive against Woking and also discarded the 4-3-3 with which he started in North Wales, opting for a classic 4-4-2, with Courtney Pitt recalled to join Robbie Willmott as an out-and-out winger. Josh Coulson depped for the suspended Wayne Hatswell, Paul Carden replaced Ben Farrell after recovering from injury, and Mark Beesley made way for Pitt. Felino Jardim did not even make the bench.
Oxford travelled east on a run of five consecutive league wins under new boss Chris Wilder, who came so close to becoming U's boss in 2006 before being persuaded to stay at the last minute by the Halifax board. It is not a decision that looks especially wise in hindsight. The only bad news of late for the 'other' U's has been the deduction of five points by those crazy guys on the Conference board for not correctly registering Eddie Hutchinson, somewhat ironic since he felt so unwanted in pre-season that he played one game on trial at the Abbey against Coventry, although Our Gary decided against signing him. As (oh dear) did Oxford, it seems...
Local community samba band Arco Iris provided a percussive backdrop to the warm-up, a pleasant noise in moderation although the quiet gaps between 'songs' proved the Slits' old adage that 'silence is a rhythm too' as well as being golden.
Once the ref's whistle sounded, it was Oxford who displayed all the rhythm as they ran a sluggish, somnolent-looking United ragged from the off. Lewis Haldane went down in the box on 2, claiming to be sandwiched, but ref Quinn was unimpressed by the first of many spectacular and unconvincing tumbles from the blue-shirted visitors.
Danny Potter had to be alert a minute later, however, when Adam Murray was afforded all the time and space in the world by United's statuesque defence to shoot powerfully for goal, the United number one diving to paw clear. A Craig Nelthorpe corner on 5 set up Luke Foster for a toe-poke wide from close range, then Murray floated an effort over the top, and even at this early stage a goal looked all but inevitable.
And sure enough, the visitors made a predictable breakthrough on 9. James Constable drove into the box, was shepherded wide by Phil Bolland but he then turned and crossed into the middle where Murray arrived unchallenged to lash comfortably home past a helpless Potter. So far, soporific: 1-0.
Thankfully the goal seemed to shake the United players, one by one, from their camera-struck comas, Anthony Tonkin the first to respond with a coruscating slalom run from deep almost from the restart which yielded his side their first corner, and the hosts at last began to get a grip on the game.
In fact they should have equalised as early as the 14th minute. Carden, forging forward, let fly from twenty yards, his shot took a deflection and it fell for Danny Crow, barely five yards out at the far post. With only keeper Billy Turley guarding the otherwise open goal, Crow somehow slid his shot against the foot of the opposite post and the danger was past.
Undaunted, United continued to press, although their crossing and supply line to the front two was somewhat lacking in quality, and Oxford continued to threaten on the break. Nelthorpe bamboozled Dan Gleeson on the left touchline and cut inside but Daryl McMahon saw the danger and sprinted to clear; then in a moment of sheer comedic horror, he swing wildly at the ball on the byline inside the box, miscued horribly towards the penalty spot and was desperately relieved that his colleagues somehow managed to crowd out any ensuing danger.
With neither winger looking especially confident or convincing, Tonkin remained United's most lively outlet, another run producing a corner on 26, but the hosts were getting precious little change in the air, while in central midfield neither Carden nor McMahon were making enough runs forward, acting as mirror images of each other when one should have been supporting the strikers.
The U's back line was cut apart on the half hour when Nelthorpe's through ball sent Constable sprinting clear down the middle with former Oxford man Bolland in pursuit, but just as Constable entered the area and was shaping to pull the trigger, the United defender stretched out a telescopic leg to take the ball cleanly with pinpoint accuracy, when the slightest error would have cost not only a penalty but a red card to boot. Alan Hansen would have been drooling like John Prescott in a kebab shop.
Crow and Scott Rendell continued to roam gamely up front, but their service remained intermittent as Willmott and Pitt struggled to make any impression creatively. On 35 Rendell appeared to be shoved in the back while rising for a high ball, to Mr Quinn's disinterest, then as play swung back up the other end he harshly booked Josh Coulson for a foul on Haldane. From the ensuing free-kick Murray crossed to find the head of Adam Chapman, sneaking unmarked into the box, but his nod was too close to Potter who nonetheless did well to hold his effort without spilling into a crowded six-yard box.
Two minutes later some dismal, slipshod passing deep in United's midfield presented possession to Murray, who sent Nelthorpe racing down the left channel, clear of a defence caught cold on a chilly night, but Potter advanced from his goal, stood his ground and produced a superb reaction save to block Nelthorpe's goalbound flick then smother it safely.
Tonkin set up Pitt with a perfect crossing opportunity as United responded, but with all the time in the world and three players to aim at in the six-yard box, he summed up his contribution so far by driving a careless cross into the side netting. Back up t'other end, Tonkin stopped Constable in his tracks with an excellent block, but United had the last word of the half when Willmott crossed for Rendell to touch just the wrong side of the post.
So ended an unsatisfactory first half for the U's and an entirely adequate one for their visitors, United having missed a glorious chance to level the scores after a thoroughly shoddy first ten minutes and having failed to truly coalesce as a team thereafter, with the creative hub of the midfield four underperforming to a man. There was not so much room for improvement as a yawning chasm of underachievement.
United resumed at a reasonably brisk pace, Gleeson drifting another cross into the side netting, but Nelthorpe had the first shot of the second half on 49, firing wide from distance. Gleeson kept his next cross in play but could only find Billy Turley's grasping gloves, and on 52 Constable wriggled clear again but could not hit the target.
The hosts stuck gamely to their task, Carden trying to raise them by example, and on 58 he came close to breaking his United scoring duck with a fizzer just wide of the post. Then on the hour Crow helped Willmott's cross on to Rendell, but his glancing header was also wayward.
In the hosts' next attack, Rendell appeared to be clearly pushed to the ground by Foster in an aerial challenge, but with the amber army still howling for a penalty, Pitt was felled by Damian Batt, Rendell continued complaining to the ref and it was he who found his way into the book for dissent, which was apparently a more serious offence than kicking an opponent to the ground.
Hutchinson came on for Joe Burnell on 64 and the teams traded shots, Carden firing over for the U's and Chapman off target for the visitors, and on 68 Our Gary decided to change his underperforming line-up by withdrawing the ineffectual Pitt in favour of Jon Challinor, who took his place in the centre of a three-man midfield with Willmott now pushed up alongside Rendell and Crow with encouragement to run at the heart of the Oxford defence.
Young Robbie wasted no time in doing exactly that, Challinor's intelligent prompting on 70 sending him racing through the middle, and his powerful shot was flying into the top corner until superbly tipped over by Turley. What's this? A substitution and change of formation that was going to work?!
It certainly looked that way. The resultant corner was half-cleared to McMahon 25 yards out, and his shot was even better than Willmott's, screaming goalward until Turley's worldie save kept it out. The eccentric Turley bizarrely headed the next corner clear from under his own bar, but the ref awarded a free-kick for, apparently, no good reason other than his wanting to hear the sound of his own whistle.
So could United find an even better shot than the last two in order to beat Turley at last? Our answer was swift in coming. On 72 McMahon fed Carden, thirty yards out in the left channel. He looked up, cut inside, and arrowed a stupendous blockbuster unstoppably into the far top corner that a dozen Turleys could not have stopped. What a way to score your first goal for the club: 1-1!
What a transformation. The timorous, stuttering United of part one, afraid to shoot or even run at their opponents, was now closer to a pack of rabid hyenas, snapping and snarling, charging at the enemy and firing shots in from all angles (not admittedly something for which hyenas are particularly renowned).
Tricky Yemi Odubade replaced Haldane for Oxford as they tried to regain the initiative, Rendell was helped to the floor in the box again, and McMahon stormed in with another thumping shot which flew just the wrong side of the post. The temperature had risen both on and off the pitch, and when Constable fouled Tonkin on 77, he was carded for his protests.
Crow blazed over from deep on 80 when a pass forward might have been a better option, then Rendell sent Willmott galloping down the centre again, but this time he got the ball tangled under his feet and Turley gathered. Then Robbie burst down the right, so much more involved now he was not confined to the wing, but his subsequent cross was frustratingly overhit.
There was still life in Oxford, Potter foiling a good chance for Nelthorpe, but United continued to test Turley too, McMahon and Rendell both finding his arms with shots. Unfortunately the last few minutes' momentum was all but ruined by the officious man in black as he decided to produce three late flashes of yellow.
Challinor was next into the book for a foul on Murray which was no worse than any number of unpunished challenges earlier in the contest, then when Turley had the ball in his hands, preparing to punt downfield, Crow was ridiculously and unnecessarily carded for raising his leg in the keeper's general direction, with no contact, as he tried to block.
Last into the black book was Carden, and although he clearly won the ball in his challenge with Odubade, his feet were slightly off the ground, which is frowned upon slightly more than top bankers' bonus payments these days. Mark Beesley replaced Crow in added time, far too late to have any influence, and honours finished even and satisfied.
A curate's egg of a performance could be viewed through a half-full glass or a half-empty one, with positives and negatives all over the park. A draw against the division's form team should be regarded as at least a decent result, but questions remain as to what United's best line-up is, and how many of the selected players will perform to anything like their best on the day; because in an increasingly tight league, it will be the most consistent teams which emerge victorious, and United's form is all over the place at the moment. What sort of team will turn up at Rushden? Search me. Let us hope that Mr Brabin has the answer...
Statto Corner
Paul Carden has now scored six league goals in a career spanning 344 matches. He first notched for Doncaster Rovers in the 2001-02 season, knocked in three for Chester, and was previously last on the scoresheet for Burton Albion on 3rd November 2006, claiming a last-minute winner in their 2-1 home victory over Stevenage.
United have played Oxford more times (three) on live television than any other team: once last season, in a 2-1 win at the Abbey, and home and away this term, going down 3-1 at the Kassam Stadium last September. The only other team they have played more than once 'live' is Burton Albion, in both legs of last season's play-off semi-finals.
The U's retain a decent home record in live TV matches, having won five, drawn three and lost two over the years. In stark contrast, they have not won a single game away from home, either at the opposition's ground or at a neutral venue. They have drawn three and lost six away, and were defeated at both the Millennium Stadium and Wembley. You might remember the last one...
The nearest a current Cambridge University student has come to playing for Cambridge United was in the case of Steve Palmer, who turned out several times for the U's reserves in the late 1980s while studying software engineering, but was not offered a professional contract. He went on to enjoy a respectable career with Ipswich Town, Watford and QPR and is now on the staff at Tottenham.
Player Ratings
Potter 8. Several outstanding saves in the first half when Oxford were in the ascendant.
Gleeson 7. Mediocre first 45 minutes, but grew in confidence during the second.
Bolland 7. One superb tackle in particular saved a near-certain goal, although he did not cover himself in glory in the build-up to the Oxford goal.
Coulson 6. Not quite up to the standard of previous outings, but that is only to be expected from a youngster still gaining experience.
Tonkin 8. Easily United's best outfield player in part one, and always a useful threat on the overlap past a sluggish-looking Pitt.
Willmott 7. Very ordinary out on the wing, he blossomed impressively in a more central role later on with some incisive running which lacked only a final product.
Carden 7. Not at his best, with some rather wild tackles on occasion, but a good, positive attitude and a goal to truly savour.
McMahon 7. Rather tentative to begin with, when both he and Carden tended to stay too deep, then much improved as United got on top and unlucky not to score with some quality long-range strikes.
Pitt 5. Very disappointing from the little wing wizard, who looked a feeble shadow of the player we know he can be.
Crow 6. Did his best with a lot of rather poor supply from his colleagues, and far too many high balls, although he badly fluffed his one big scoring chance.
Rendell 6. Put the hard work in, but like his strike partner, was hamstrung by low-quality service for much of the time.
Challinor 7. Helped to change the game when he replaced Pitt with a good standard of passing plus those long throws.
Beesley 5. Barely had time to touch the ball.
Match Summary
Thursday night saw United's season encapsulated in a 90-minute microcosm: one part sublime attacking play and excellent defending, one part hopeless passing and a dismal lack of creativity, multiple team formations, some truly wretched refereeing and a result that was simultaneously satisfying and frustrating. Sums up what it's like supporting this lot, really...
Man of the Match
Danny Potter. The match would have been over as a contest were it not for his alertness in the first half, and he provided a solid springboard for the team's revival in the second.
Ref Watch
Quinn 3. We've seen some strange refs at this level, and this vertically-challenged little chap was as weird as they come: happy to ignore any number of blatant pushes and shoves, happy to give free-kicks for fouls but not to even speak to any of perpetrators, but all too willing to wave his yellow card with impunity at anyone who spoke a word out of turn, which it seems is a far more serious offence than kicking an opponent from behind. Then in the last five minutes he changed his tune and started booking anything that moved.
Becky's World of Wit and Wisdom
"An apology as a friendship preserver
is often a debt of honour
is never a sign of weakness
is an antidote for hatred
costs nothing but one's pride
always saves more than it costs
is needed in every home."
[Manchester United, 9/10/91]
Hello... Goodbye
Today is the birthday of one of the most important men in Cambridge United's proud history: Bill Leivers (1932). An FA Cup winner as a player in 1956 with Manchester City, his first (player-) manager appointment was with Doncaster, then in November 1966 he applied for both the Workington and United jobs. He was offered the U's position, only for the board to discover he had accepted the Workington job half an hour previously, but three months later he visited the Abbey, was very impressed by what he saw, and was offered the job again, Matt Wynn having filled in as caretaker since Roy Kirk's resignation. This time Bill accepted, and in his first programme notes stated "I have two ambitions - I want to see our club as champions of the Southern League, then I shall do all within my power to ensure that we obtain Football League status with the least possible delay."
In little more than two years United had achieved the Southern League and Cup double, and a year after that the Holy Grail of Football League election was realised after another championship. And it didn't stop there; promotion to Division Three was secured in 1973, again within three years as Leivers had promised, and Bill's avowed target was Division Two. Sadly it was not to be, and after an immediate relegation, the manager resigned in October 1974. He later manager Chelmsford and Cambridge City.
Bill's passion for the good things about football often came out in his entertaining programme notes. Of George Best after his brief retirement from football in 1973, he said "I would sign George Best tomorrow and if need be I would walk to his Spanish retreat in Marbella to get his signature and he need only turn up on match days."
And of an Arsenal vs Leeds match he attended that same year, he stated "Arsenal played as though they had no feeling for the game. They played like robots in comparison and, for those Cambridge people who buy season tickets at £50 a time, I can only assume that it is the atmosphere of the big time that attracts them for they would see more entertainment at the 'Abbey Ground' [sic]... We want to foster the image as entertainers and professionals at the same time." Amen to that, Bill.
Another birthday boy today is Craig Westcarr (1985), a less than resounding success at the Abbey but who enjoyed a nice spell in the FA Cup spotlight last week for Kettering with a jammy deflected free-kick and a penalty.
Debut boys on this day have been Mark Beesley a year ago, in a 1-0 home defeat by Exeter, and Martin Carruthers, who began a month-long loan spell in 2005 in a 3-1 home defeat by Kidderminster.
We said goodbye on this day to Simon Rea, who played his last United game in the same Kidderminster match, and to the great Martin Butler, a true Abbey legend whose farewell performance was on 29th January 2000 in a 3-1 home FA Cup defeat by Bolton, moving on to Reading for £750,000 after 52 goals in 127 appearances. He left Grimsby last October because he could not cope with the commute from his Worcester home but has yet to find another league club, which at the age of 34 is a tragic waste of talent.
Soundtrack of the Day
John Martyn "Fine Line." R.I.P. Maestro
Andrew Bennett
Andrew's previous match reports
The views expressed on this page are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cambridge United Football Club or the webmaster.
