Sunday 4th October 2009 - Histon 1-1 U's: Last minute delivery
It is said that the average long-term relationship goes through five distinct phases. These could also apply to that of our beloved United with those pesky neighbours from up the A14.
(1) The Romance or Honeymoon Stage. Back in the early part of this decade, we looked on indulgently as a little village side, managed by an old Abbey legend, pushed its way heroically up through the divisions below us, playing some very attractive football along the way. Good for them, it's not as if they could ever be competing with us.
(2) The Reality or Disillusionment Stage. That all changed when, still one division below us, came that fateful day in December 2006 when they slaughtered an abject United side 5-0 in the FA Trophy. Well that wasn't very neighbourly, wasn't it? That cute little puppy we were patting on the head just bit our hand off!
(3) The Power Struggle Stage. Next thing we knew, we were in the same league. We swapped wins in the league over Christmas 2007 but things turned really nasty in the Trophy again and the red cards began to flow. We didn't want conflict, but boundaries needed drawing here.
(4) The Stability Stage. After finally getting a win at Bridge Road in the FA Trophy last season and throwing away points in the league, the events at Impington in March were the final straw for some and United supporters' interest in attending an unwanted 'local derby' began to wane. Crowds have been in decline ever since those initial meetings. We now had 'history', but the memories were not especially affectionate and indifference has set in.
(5) The Commitment Stage. This one remains to be seen. We now know each other intimately. But will this relationship as 'local rivals' truly last? Time alone will tell...
It felt strange to be playing at Histon so early in the season, on a sunny and balmy Sunday afternoon, rather than in deepest, coldest midwinter at one of our traditional New Year or FA Trophy encounters. Their chairman was suitably apologetic about our last meeting - it still beggars belief that they were "not prepared for the turnout that arrived" - and it was good to see that a proper toilet block has now been added at the away end, at the expense of the wooden fence-backed smoking area. An additional covered terrace had also been added next to the existing one at the home end, although it was considerably more sparsely populated than the away terrace.
The atmosphere was fairly low-key, with a fair number of people gathered on the hill overlooking the ground, but at least the pitch was not a sea of mud for a change; in fact there was so much sand on it that flurries of the stuff rose into the air like mini-tornadoes in the Sahara when some players made contact with the ball.
Martin Ling reacted calmly to Tuesday's desultory display at Grays, only making one change in recalling Danny Crow for Lee Phillips, while Histon were missing former U Adam Tann after his dismissal against Eastbourne, although their side did include ex-U Josh Simpson and former trialist John Kennedy, as well as returning bon viveur Erkan Okay and the forthright Craig Pope. They are skippered this season by Matt Langston. Did you know he is a postman?
With the departure - sorry, "not currently involved with the first team" - of John Beck, our old chum Alan 'Uncle Fester' Lewer is assisting Steve Fallon these days, and their new, exciting total football formation was a 4-4-1-1 with Josh Simpson stationed behind hulking target man Danny Wright.
On several occasions over the last few years United have started at Histon like a bury of frightened rabbits, and they did so again with a quite startling lack of energy, losing out to the pace and power of the hosts. Additionally, their extra man in midfield meant that the U's were very much overrun in that department, and could neither provide any service to their strikers or pick up all of the runners from the centre to help out a quickly beleaguered defence.
Histon appeared able to stroll through the United ranks at will, and on 6 Nathaniel Knight-Percival found Simpson and Danny Wright queuing up to take a shot eight yards out, but the latter was robbed by a magnificent sliding tackle from Anthony Tonkin as he shaped to shoot.
A minute later Simpson was felled by Courtney Pitt and we were reminded that Histon are still most dangerous from set pieces when Pope's free-kick found the head of Knight-Percival, but he nodded wide at the far post. United's first attempt at goal came on 9 following a foul on Paul Carden by Jamie Barker, but Pitt fired into the wall.
The hosts remained in the ascendant, but there was some light relief on the quarter hour when keeper Danny Naisbitt's miscued clearance fell to Carden a long way out and his attempt at a lob was hideously scuffed out of play for a throw-in. Must have got a bit of a bobble.
Back came Histon, cutting a swathe through the visitors again, and after some smart inter-passing (no wonder Beck isn't there) Knight-Percival had a clear sight of goal just outside the six-yard box, but a combination of Danny Potter and the long legs of Brian Saah foiled him.
Three minutes later Pope crossed to Okay, Potter catching his header quite comfortably, and on 23 Pope nodded Kennedy's flag-kick wide. Then Simpson tried his luck with a shot and Dan Gleeson's attempted clearance sliced just the right side of the post for another corner, over it came and Knight-Percival found the space for a first-time volley which soared just over the bar. By now the alarm bells were ringing louder than Brian Blessed with a raging toothache.
Flustered United almost presented Histon with an opener on 27 when Wayne Hatswell passed to Carden in the centre circle but he was as usual closed down immediately, this time by Wright, and next second he had robbed the U's skipper and was sprinting clear and unchallenged down the middle. The amber army resigned itself to going one down, but somehow he managed to sidefoot the ball carefully and deliberately wide of the post as Potter tried to spread himself. Phew.
Unusually we had got by without any bookings so far, but the predictable first cardee on 29 was persistent fouler Kennedy. United could not go on like this, overrun, outfought and out-thought, and slowly, almost imperceptibly, they at last began to play their way into the contest after a quite excruciating initial half-hour.
The tide of possession gradually turned United's way and on 37 Tonkin's cross following a half-cleared free-kick found Hatswell's head, but he nodded over. Back came Histon, though, and the U's had Tonkin to thank again when Gareth Gwillim's free-kick ran to Okay and the left-back blocked heroically.
United's territorial toehold grew more in the last few minutes of the half, with several forays into the previously near-deserted home box, but they could not trouble Naisbitt unduly before the half-time whistle sounded.
The only real positive that the U's could take from the proceedings thus far was the fact that they had somehow not fallen behind. But the defence had kept them in it almost single-handed so far, with the midfield overrun, the wingers nonexistent both offensively and defensively, and the strikers starved of any sort of quality service, hopeful balls over the top for Chris Holroyd to chase about as good as it got. Mr Ling needed a quiet word, and a substantial number of loud words, with his underachieving charges.
The United players were tellingly sent out several minutes earlier than their counterparts, and they responded in encouraging and inspiring fashion. The crosses began to flow, forcing Histon back, and on 51 Knight-Percival was lucky to see only yellow for an elbow on Gleeson. The United man was booked himself a minute later for an innocuous aerial challenge by the touchline that the ref presumably saw as some sort of belated retaliation.
Okay fouled Holroyd on 54 and Robbie Willmott's ambitious free-kick was blocked by Kennedy, and the United wingman blasted wide a few minutes later when a cross might have been the better option. Kennedy trundled a shot wide on the hour, but now Pitt stepped up to the plate and began to show the sort of devastating form which gained him his reputation in the first place.
Looking positive and hungrier than John Prescott in a pet shop, the little wing wizard took the game to the hosts, twisting defenders inside and out and taking powerful potshots at every opportunity; one superb effort looked goalbound but was deflected off for a corner, from which Holroyd had a floating header saved.
Immediately, however, United were caught on the break as Simpson latched onto a long ball while Tonkin gave chase, and Potter advanced from goal to make a tremendous save to tip his carefully placed shot around the post. Kennedy's ensuing corner found Pope rising unmarked in the middle of goal, but Potter's reaction save pawed it spectacularly over the bar.
Back came United through Gleeson, haring down the right on the counter-attack, and his precision cross to the far post found Danny Crow arriving at full pelt, but his diving header was tipped around the post by Naisbitt. Incredibly, he was given offside despite clearly arriving from behind the ball.
Histon broke again, the game even more open now, and Wright sent Simpson away again but Potter smothered his shot, then it was Pitt's turn again, dancing inside several opponents to test Naisbitt with another hard shot which fell just past Crow on the follow-up, Gwillim eventually clearing the danger.
The hosts made two changes on 68, replacing Kennedy and Barker with Neil Andrews and on-loan Peterborough midfielder Billy Crook, but if that was intended to galvanise them, it had the opposite effect as United really took the game by the scruff of the neck and laid siege to the Histon goal, the action taking place almost entirely in the home side's half for the next fifteen minutes with Potter's half of the pitch eerily empty.
United peppered the Histon box with crosses, Crow sending an over-deliberate header over the top from a Willmott corner, then Pitt forcing another fine save from Naisbitt. Hatswell was next to try his luck, and his mishit cross turned into a screamer of a shot which was flying just under the bar until tipped over the top by the overworked Naisbitt. This half was now almost the exact opposite of the first.
Several players had escaped bookings for fouls which looked much more serious and cynical than Gleeson's challenge, and the next card, for Okay on 74, was awarded for a silly throwing away of the ball at a United throw-in as he began to feel the pressure. Tonkin blasted a hopeful shot over, Pitt continued to terrorise Pope and friends, and the breakthrough at last came ten minutes from time.
It came from a short corner of all things, Satan's Set Piece, but for once it was played perfectly: Jai Reason to Pitt, he fired a low diagonal cross-shot into a crowded box, and there was goal machine Holroyd at the far post to divert it in from close range. 1-0!
Histon introduced their third sub, Sam Long for Okay, and as so often happens when a team scores after a long spell of pressure, the opposition began to get back into the match, helped by some sloppy conceding of free-kicks and corners that the players surely knew could only lead to trouble.
Lee Phillips replaced Crow on 87, the hard-working striker looking like he was carrying some sort of strain, and two minutes later as Histon continued to press, Hatswell felled Wright just outside the box and was harshly booked for a foul similar to many others which had gone unpunished by the inconsistent man in black.
Crook beat the wall with the free-kick, but not Potter, who flung himself to his left to tip it around the post. But a series of corners followed.
If you were to ask anyone remotely familiar with Histon who was not at the match how and when their equaliser came, chances are they would say "injury time, scrambled goal from a corner". And some things in football are, after all, still predictable. It was the second flag-kick which did the damage, Langston (you know, the postman - why wasn't he on strike?) winning an untidy header in a melee from which it bounced, probably with the help of a deflection or two, into the net with dispiriting predictability. 1-1.
Four minutes added time had been announced just before the goal and United tried to respond again, Carden hitting a dipping volley onto the roof of the net. But it was too little, too late, and the third consecutive league draw between the Cambridgeshire rivals.
Reaction afterwards was much the same as after the York game: we would have taken a draw before the match, or even at half-time after such a disappointing performance in the first 45, but the manner of the draw ultimately evinced a degree of disappointment to those in black'n'amber. The way the players raised their game in the second half was very encouraging and showed just what they can do; but that does not excuse a truly feeble first-half effort which would have been punished by a better opponent.
Ling now has a full week to get to the bottom of this squad and its collective psyche. One win in seven is not promotion form, and greater consistency is a must. The next few opponents are not the strongest, and United must regain the winning habit without further delay. If they can do it, they might just rekindle a beautiful relationship...
Statto Corner
So far this season, United have lost four points to goals in the last five minutes, in draws at Histon and at York. They lost points to late goals on three occasions last term, in 1-1 draws with Stevenage and at Histon, and in a 1-0 home defeat by Torquay.
United last kept a clean sheet against Histon on Boxing Day 2007, in a 1-0 Abbey victory. The last time they managed a shutout at Bridge Road was in the Cambs Professional Cup Final in July 2006, drawing 0-0 before taking the trophy 4-3 on penalties.
The U's have not won in their last four games. Their previous such barren run came in March 2008, with 2-1 defeats at Crawley and at Ebbsfleet, a goalless draw with Weymouth and a 3-0 home trouncing by Kidderminster. Thereafter they won five out of their last six league matches to clinch second place and their first playoff berth.
United are unbeaten in Sunday league games since they lost 1-0 at Oxford on Boxing Day 1999, winning three and drawing four since then. Their only other Sabbath games in that time have been two Playoff finals and an LDV Vans Trophy final, and you don't need me to remind you how they fared in those...
Josh Simpson started a grand total of twelve matches in black'n'amber and came on as sub a further nine times, without scoring. He has played against United twice for Cambridge City and four times for Histon, and the only time he has finished on the winning side was when he scored the winner in the latter's 2-1 CPC final win in August against a weakened U's team.
John Kennedy, then an Ipswich Town player, turned out as a trialist for United's Reserves in a 2-0 away win over Portsmouth's stiffs on 16th March, 2000. He was not offered a contract and eventually signed for Canvey Island.
Player Ratings
Potter 9. Danny at his acrobatic best.
Gleeson 7. Decent effort, although concentration seemed to lapse at times.
Tonkin 9. Superb performance with several vital saving tackles and interceptions plus useful overlapping support to the attack.
Saah 8. Strong and cool.
Hatswell 8. Always at the heart of the action.
Willmott 7. Reasonable second half after a poor first.
Carden 8. As disappointing as anyone in that opening 45 but improved greatly in part two.
Reason 7. Too many wayward passes, although got involved industriously in the second half.
Pitt 8. Quite stunning after the interval with brilliant dribbling and explosive shooting. More of the same, please.
Crow 8. Hugely hard-working and won an impressive amount of ball in the air.
Holroyd 8. The goals keep coming.
Phillips 7. Got stuck in for his brief period on the pitch.
NB These markings reflect United's splendid second half performance rather than their mostly dismal first.
Match Summary
United survived a torrid first half to bounce back impressively and dominate the second, only to be denied a hard-won victory by the regulation last-minute scrambled set-piece goal. Probably a fair result overall, but as at York, the timing of the goals was a source of much frustration.
Man of the Match
Danny Potter. What should have been a match-winning display, with a series of stunning, acrobatic reaction saves as good as anything you will see in the professional game.
Ref Watch
Malone 7. Mostly acceptable except for his wildly inconsistent booking policy, booking some players while ignoring others who had committed similar offences.
Out of the Mouths of Babes
"I thought the game was OK but the ground a bit small." (Roy Badcock)
Soundtrack of the Day
Au Revoir Simone 'Another Likely Story'
Parky's Pick of the Pops
Andy Parkinson lends an ear to the Bridge Road sounds. "All right, lads and lasses? I was reminded today of my weird Uncle Osbert, who's a fan of that clever-clogs Brian Eno and likes all this 'ambient' music, which as far as I can tell means music that's so quiet you can't hardly hear it!
"That's what it was like today at Histon. Either I'm starting to go deaf, or they had the PA turned down to about 2. I could make out some Coldplay, some Tina Turner and what sounded a bit like Rod Stewart. Then they played Blue's 'All Rise' twice, the second time just after the game started until they finally cut it off, and at half-time they played the same Gabrielle record twice too!
"It was all a bit of a mess, I'm afraid. Uncle Osbert would probably have laughed and called it 'art terrorism' or something but then he was always full of you-know-what! Never walk alone! PPP verdict: 2/10"
Andrew Bennett
Andrew's previous match reports
More Match Photos
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.
