Tuesday 18th August 2009 - U's 0-1 Crawley: Home Sweat Home
The process of appointing a football manager must be rather like approaching a dating agency. Will they be compatible? Will he require a GSOH? Would we prefer a quiet, caring one or a fiery, slightly dangerous one? Will he be sincere or just desperate? No time wasters, please.
Cambridge United and Crawley Town obviously go for different types. In the technical areas at the Abbey were a veritable Yin and Yang of football management. On one hand, we had the analytical calm of Martin Ling, keeping an eye on proceedings with dapper understatedness; on the other, there was Mr Steve Evans, his ample frame crammed into an ill-fitting tracksuit like an overstuffed turkey and ranting like Rab C. Nesbitt's less sophisticated younger brother. It takes all sorts, it seems.
Ling named an unchanged side for his first serious home game in charge, although Anthony Tonkin was introduced to the bench in place of cover keeper Laurie Walker. Crawley included ex-United loanee Charles Ademeno up front and former trialist Eddie Hutchinson in midfield, but Jefferson Louis, scorer of six games in eight previous games against United for four different clubs, was only amongst the subs.
It was a humid August night at the Abbey and expectations were high after two goal-filled away wins since that disappointing opening day defeat to Barrow. But it was the visitors who started the better, playing much of the first ten minutes in the United half without troubling Danny Potter.
The hosts, however, soon began to shake off their earlier lethargy and began to play the tidy passing game that the new boss demands. Man in form Chris Holroyd set up forward partner Mark Beesley for a decent strike at goal on 11, but his low diagonal scudder was tipped around the post by Simon Rayner.
United kept up the pressure but could not find that telling final ball to finish off their neat build-up. Simon Rusk blasted the visitors' first shot well wide, and when Beesley was brought down by Karl Broadhurst on the quarter hour, Robbie Willmott stepped up to hammer the free-kick over the wall but off the top of the bar, not quite equalling his blockbuster of Saturday at Chester.
Willmott, starting on the left, was bursting with positivity and confidence and set up Beesley for a turn and shot wide on 18, Crawley responded with a Barry Cogan shot which was blocked by Dan Gleeson, then United came back with a Jai Reason shot which flew wide from distance.
It was the U's who were now in the ascendant, just looking for that right touch in the danger zone, but their crosses could not find an amber shirt and the visitors stood firm. And on 26 the sponsorless red shirts took the lead against the run of play.
Andy Parkinson danced to the byline and crossed for Holroyd, but his attempt at another spectacular scissor kick just missed the ball and it ran to Ben Smith halfway into the Crawley half. His long ball forward bisected centre-backs Josh Coulson and Wayne Hatswell and ran for Jamie Cook, who from yours truly's vantage point almost exactly in line was clearly two yards offside, but unfortunately the linesman was several yards ahead of the play and in no position to judge, so he just waved play on and crossed his fingers.
Handed a gift, Cook strolled unhindered down the middle and chipped coolly past the exposed Potter. 1-0.
Crawley enjoyed a brief period of ascendancy as a shellshocked United regrouped, but Lewis Killeen's foul on Gleeson on 33 handed Willmott another chance to repeat his free-kick magic... but this time he smashed it hopelessly over the top.
The U's began to get back into their groove, but still lacked the required quality in the final third as every cross fell on stony ground. Holroyd made space for himself in the D on 42 and shot low for the far corner only to have his effort blocked away by Chris Giles, and a frustrating first half ended with the visitors in a scarcely deserved lead, almost as surprising a statistic as the fact that there had been no cards of any hue, Crawley's tackling as uncompromising as ever but pleasingly within the rules. Mostly.
United had enjoyed good spells of pressure and played some neat stuff at times, but had not created sufficient chances to trouble Rayner in the Crawley goal to any great extent. Holroyd had been afforded little opportunity to display his pace off the last man, his service simply not accurate enough, while the midfield engine room of Reason and Paul Carden had remained deep far too much and afforded the front two precious little direct support.
Willmott and Parkinson swapped wings for part two, although Parky's positioning was something of a puzzle because although Robbie was undoubtedly an out-and-out winger on the right, the experienced Scouser stationed himself well infield between the forwards and the midfield and could in no way be described as a flanker.
Crawley were in no hurry and the onus was firmly on the U's to display sufficient imagination and invention to break them down. Willmott cut inside and lashed a left-footed shot wide from just outside the box on 51, but otherwise the pattern remained the same as the hosts' crosses failed to find their mark.
The visitors still threatened on the break and after a swift interchange of passes the nippy Ademeno drilled a shot against the foot of the near post on 57; United responded almost immediately with a Beesley shot from an acute angle which a surprised Rayner batted around the post after a spot of impromptu juggling.
Ling decided that change was needed to break Crawley down and on 66 Courtney Pitt replaced Parkinson and Danny Crow came on for Beesley. Inside a minute Holroyd had been upended by Giles and Pitt was presented with a free-kick opportunity 25 yards out, but although he curled it over the wall, Rayner caught it comfortably.
Somehow, though, the substitutions did not work. United became impatient and a little lazy and instead of getting the ball down and passing it, they starting lumping high balls towards the unfortunate Crow, whose strength is surely with the ball at his feet and not skimming off the top of his head. Crawley's defence lapped this up with ease, and with Carden and Reason looking increasingly uninspired and Pitt in wayward mode, United started to look desperate: all meat and drink to Crawley and their manager's ever-expanding tracksuit.
So under par were United, in fact, that Crawley began to gain in confidence and dominated possession for a while. On 73 Sam Rents' corner was half-cleared to Broadhurst who fired over, Ademeno had a shot cleared from near the line by Coulson then Smith had a shot blocked, while the hosts could only respond with off-target efforts from Pitt and Reason.
Anthony Tonkin appeared for the first time since the opening friendly at Ely with ten minutes to go, Darryl Coakley giving way after another excellent, creditable performance from the youngster. It was difficult to see exactly what effect swapping left-backs was supposed to have, and all it seemed initially to do was destabilise a defence led by a subdued, underperforming Hatswell.
On 82 we at last saw a booking as Rents clattered Willmott, still striving gamely despite a dreadful lack of service for himself, Holroyd and Crow from the disappointing 'creative' types behind them. The midfield was also failing to prevent breaks from Crawley and Ademeno sprinted clear only to waste his intended pass for Smith, and next minute he was replaced by Danny Forrest.
The atmosphere was becoming increasingly niggly, not exactly helped by the constant stream of invective from the visitors' bench, and when Reason was felled by Broadhurst, Hutchinson felt he had made the most of the challenge and was booked after an untidy mini-melee. The ensuing free-kick was fired low past the wall by Willmott and an unsighted Rayner just managed to scoop it past the post.
Creative ideas, however, were few and far between and Crawley began to run the clock down, Michael Malcolm replacing Killeen and Louis coming on for Cook. Pitt latched onto a loose ball to hare down the middle but fired well wide.
Ironically United's best chance was their last, in added time. Willmott took a corner from the left, Rayner got nowhere near the ball when he came for it in a crowded box, and it dropped onto Gleeson's head at the far post, six yards out, but he could only nod wide of the goal and held his head in his hands when he realised what a good chance he had just spurned.
An untidy end to the match saw a predictable kerfuffle involving Carden and the visiting bench, the sort of confrontation that they seem determined to provoke every week, but they had the last laugh with all three points.
Ling will undoubtedly have been disappointed at the way his team lost patience with its own passing game and ended up attacking more with hope than purpose; and several senior players did not perform at anywhere near their best on the night. But he will not be pressing the panic button just yet. United had the chances to draw or even win and were unlucky that a clearly illegal goal was allowed to settle it.
With the current line-up and the style of play the boss wants, the team seems set up to prosper better away from home in a swift counter-attacking style, so Tamworth on Saturday should hold no fears. Then they have a full week to prepare for the visit of Gateshead and the search for the opening home goals and points of the season. United's blind date still has plenty of time to blossom into a satisfying relationship.
Statto Corner
The last time United lost their first two league home games of the season was in 2006, when in fact they started with three defeats at the Abbey, to Northwich (0-1), Halifax (1-2) and Exeter (1-3). You would have to go back to 1992 for the previous occasion with away wins for Charlton (0-1) and Birmingham (0-3) in what was then known as League Division One.
To avoid any more depression, let us have some reflections on Saturday's 4-2 win at Chester. The previous time that United had come back to win from 2-0 down was in their 4-2 defeat of champions Dagenham & Redbridge on 9th April 2007, when goals from Mark Peters, Robbie Simpson, Courtney Pitt and Rob Wolleaston gave the U's victory after two goals in the first eleven minutes from Paul Benson. Only Pitt and Dan Gleeson remain in United's squad from that day.
Last comeback from two down away from home was in a 4-2 win at Northampton in the LDV Vans Trophy on 12th November 2002. Goals from our old friend Chris Hargreaves and Marco Gabbiadini were overtaken by a Daryl Burgess o.g., Tom Youngs and a brace from Omer Riza (right), with Cobblers keeper Nathan Abbey sent off.
You have to go right back to 9th April 1983 for United's last two-goal away comeback in a league match. After going two down in the first fourteen minutes at Barnsley, the U's fought back to win 3-2 via strikes from Andy Sinton, Martin Goldsmith and George Reilly.
Chris Holroyd became the 61st different United player to score a hat-trick since the War. Top of the charts, with eight hat-tricks, are legends Russell Crane and Phil Hayes; Crane scored four in a match four times, but all of Hayes' triples came in threes only.
Top treble scorers in the post-1970 League era are John Taylor and Steve Butler, with three each. Butler's were all scored during April 1994, while Shaggy notched two in 1989 and the third eleven years later, in a 4-0 win at Cardiff.
Butler's most famous achievement was scoring five at Exeter. Only two other United players have matched that achievement: Brian Moore in a 6-1 win over Sudbury Town in April 1958, and Eddie Robinson in a 7-2 defeat of Chelmsford City the following January. The latter was the only occasion on which Robinson scored as much as a hat-trick in U's colours. Possibly the best known United striker never to manage a treble for the club is Dave Kitson.
Player Ratings
Potter 7. No chance with the goal, otherwise satisfactory.
Gleeson 7. Decent if unspectacular.
Coulson 8. One of the few United players to perform to his best.
Hatswell 6. Subdued by his own high standards.
Coakley 7. The youngster performed admirably again.
Parkinson 6. Not bad first half, not involved enough in the second and perhaps he could explain what position he was supposed to be occupying.
Carden 6. A long way from his best with too many sloppy passes and no contribution at all in the opposing half.
Reason 6. Also disappointing, he stayed far too deep and left the strikers too isolated to do any damage.
Willmott 8. Fine first half in which he was United's most dangerous player. Only faded in the second because of a poor supply line.
Beesley 6. Had a couple of decent strikes, although he did not give the opposition enough trouble in the final third.
Holroyd 6. Did not play badly, which was all the more frustrating as the club's on-fire marksman was criminally starved of quality service from a malfunctioning midfield.
Crow 5. Made no impression whatsoever, although again not helped by really poor service mostly aimed at the top of his head for some reason.
Pitt 6. Good initial impact, but could not keep it up and as usual tended to veer sharply between the brilliant and the inept.
Tonkin 5. Great to see him back, although he was caught out of position regularly as he tried to help his side back into the game.
Match Summary
Toothless United were undone first by a blatantly offside goal, then their own lack of inspiration and imagination as after a promising start they flailed increasingly ineffectively against Crawley's stout but hardly earth-shattering resistance, with too many experienced players performing well below par on the night. Not a display to impress the new boss in any way.
Man of the Match
Josh Coulson. Battled doughtily and efficiently amongst underachieving colleagues.
Ref Watch
Coote 7. Cannot be blamed for the incompetence of his linesman, and had a pretty decent game, a little fussy but fortunately Crawley kept their notorious gamesmanship at a relatively low level for a change.
Out of the Mouths of Babes
"The game was terrible but I enjoyed it because I didn't need to pay." (Julian Purr)
Soundtrack of the Day
Jonathan Jeremiah 'What's A Guy Got To Do'
Andrew Bennett
Andrew's previous match reports
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