Tuesday 1st December 2009 - U's 1-0 Chester: As the Crow flies
With Christmas now crawling up our collective inside leg like a colony of earwigs with mistletoe tied to their antennae, there is a section set aside in Cambridge's HMV store for DVDs with a festive theme. But amidst the selection of feel-good, heartwarming family movies on the packed shelves, one stands out like a sore thumb: 'Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence.' A cheerless psychological drama set in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp with gruesome torture and death scenes and some truly harrowing attempts at acting from David Bowie, its only connection with Christmas is the parting title line at the end and it would be guaranteed to drive the festive spirit out of anyone attempting to watch it after a long Christmas Day lunch, no matter how much brandy butter and figgy pudding they had consumed.
Similarly, this season is beginning to stand out like a sore thumb from the rest of a decade which is now subject to all manner of 'Noughties' retrospectives. Devoid of the backs-to-the-wall drama of United's fight against insolvency and rebuilding thereafter, or the excitement of the last two seasons' purposeful assault on promotion, 2009-10 has been something of a drag for the most part (the odd 7-0 win excepted) and Tuesday night's drab encounter with the Conference's latest crisis club, Chester, summed up all that has been dull and boring about a season that so far still seems stuck in first gear.
The phrase 'crisis club' has become an overworked cliché over the last few years, but it was never more appropriate than when applied to Chester City at the moment. Still on minus points in December, with the threat of imminent expulsion hanging over their heads, an owner who has become the first man to fail the FA's 'fit and proper person' criteria, and a match abandoned on Saturday because of a pitch invasion by their own fans - who had had no intention of getting the game called off - they arrived at the Abbey on a run of four consecutive defeats with eleven goals conceded and a squad down to the proverbial bare bones. So respect was due to the gallant 43 away fans who travelled down to support their team.
On a chilly night with Christmas expenses on the horizon and the enthralling prospect of Man Utd Reserves versus Tottenham on the telly, a sparse crowd gathered to watch a U's side shorn of injured full-backs Dan Gleeson and Anthony Tonkin as well as the suspended Wayne Hatswell. A youthful back four boasted Rory McAuley and Darryl Coakley wide and Josh Coulson accompanying 'old head' Brian Saah (22), while Jai Reason and Paul Carden were restored to midfield after suspension, with the unfortunate Sam Ives dropped to the bench.
Martin Ling has apparently claimed that Reason and Carden have been United's best players this season, a claim possibly made after hitting the Olbas Oil a little too much, as most supporters' votes would surely go to Chris Holroyd, Tonkin and Saah. Laurie Walker was preferred on the bench to Jordan Patrick or Ben Farrell. For the visitors, Mark Beesley was missing from the weekend's team under the terms of his loan from the U's.
United got off to a lethargic start with Carden stationed deep, in front of the back four, but Reason also regularly dropping back in order to pick the ball up from the defence, which showed an admirable intent to dictate the play but left the strikers with precious little support. Most of United's early passing moves were contained to their own half as the back four and deep midfielders knocked it from side to side but created nothing for the attacking players, usually ending up just lumping it hopefully forward and losing possession.
The irascible Jim Harvey is in charge at Chester these days and he had his side playing his customary tidy passing football. Neither keeper, however, was involved until the 12th minute when Ben Wilkinson tried a blaster from 25 yards which flew comfortably into Danny Potter's hands.
Four minutes later a clumsy foul by Robbie Willmott on Wilkinson presented Anthony Barry with a free-kick opportunity which cleared the wall but was rebuffed by a sea of bodies in the area. There was precious little penetration from the hosts, with the midfield not on its passing game, and they had to wait until 20 for their first corner, but goal custodian Jon Danby remained unchallenged.
The visitors looked the more likely to create something, despite an inherently cautious approach with one striker up front and one behind, and on 25 a swift break down the right saw Glenn Rule cross for James Owen to trundle an underpowered shot into Potter's gloves. Chester full-back Kevin Roberts was the first to see yellow a minute later for a rather agricultural challenge on Holroyd, who was feeding gamely off scraps and far too many balls aimed at his head or behind him when his strength is using his pace to chase balls forward, Chester defending deep.
A couple minutes later Danny Crow summed up his team's lamentable first half with a sloppy pass on halfway which was intercepted by Barry, slid through to Lloyd Ellams, and his low cross found Nick Chadwick arriving eight yards out, but somehow the sliding former Everton man could only scuff a lame effort at Potter when he really should have opened the scoring.
On the half hour Holroyd received yet another cross with his back to goal from Willmott, but this time managed to swivel and guided a careful shot just wide of the upright. Roberts blazed over from distance a minute later, then on 33 McAuley sustained an eye injury in a scramble following a Courtney Pitt corner and was forced to withdraw.
United clearly thought they could patch him up because he was not replaced immediately, Carden dropping to right-back. Chadwick fired into Potter's arms on 35 then the U's keeper smothered an Ellams effort, and on 39 the hosts were at last restored to full strength as Sam Ives entered the fray, Carden remaining in defence.
It was still Chester who were having all the shots, albeit of no great quality, Reece Maynell firing wide on 43, and Pitt was first U's man into the book a minute later for a foul on Chadwick. Last shot of a desperately mediocre first half went to Willmott, whose promising run culminated, as so often this season, with a wild shot over the bar.
As entertainment went, the opening 45 minutes had rated somewhere south of a similar period watching Christopher Biggins picking navel fluff out of his belly button, and the amber faithful expressed their underwhelment with vocal vehemence as their heroes ambled off their pitch at about the same pace as which they had played during the first half. For spirited, well-organised Chester it had been a job well done so far on limited resources.
The visitors replaced Wilkinson with Jack Rea for part two, leaving them with a team including six homegrown youth products, and while United's own youngsters in defence had given a good account of themselves so far, the creative problems further up the pitch needed addressing.
This time at least United got off to a decent start, attacking with pace for a change, and two minutes in Holroyd chased down Danby who was dithering after receiving a backpass at his feet, forcing the keeper to pick the ball up and concede an indirect free-kick inside the box. At least that is what the ref indicated, until the Chester players protested that Danby had been fouled, and after consulting at length with his linesman, the man in black remarkably agreed, despite his 'assistant' having indicated no such foul when the free-kick had been awarded to United. Anyone for fudge?
Pitt seemed to have started the half in a new position, stationed behind the front two, but he gradually drifted back towards the left. On 52 the visitors gained a free-kick when Coakley fouled Rea, but although Barry's set piece found the head of Sean Kelly, it skimmed off his forehead and so wide of goal that it did not even go out of play.
Rule was next into the book on 56 for bringing down Holroyd, but Pitt's free-kick failed to beat the wall, while three minutes later the lively Ives latched onto a Danby clearance to set up Holroyd with a shooting chance which he fired powerfully into the keeper's hands from just outside the area. Rea was next bookee for felling Reason, then on the hour Ling decided that he had seen enough - with you there, Martin - and introduced Lee Phillips for the subdued Pitt. United did not go to 4-3-3, however, stationing Holroyd on the right wing and switching Willmott to the left.
Willmott's next corner found Danny Crow, who hit the bar with a spectacular overhead kick, but the whistle had already gone for a foul in the box. On 68 Phillips set up Ives for a blast at goal and although he lost his footing on the slippery pitch as he shot, his goalbound effort still forced a decent save from the diving Danby.
Chester responded with a corner which found Chadwick inside the six-yard box, but his prod somehow ran across the face of goal and to safety. It had never been a dirty match, but Barry was sixth into the book on 73 for foolishly knocking the ball away after conceding a free-kick, then Holroyd was surprisingly withdrawn in favour of Adam Marriott, the exciting teenager stationing himself in the hole behind Crow and Phillips on his league debut after three substitute FA Cup appearances.
A minute later the determined Phillips fizzed a low shot at Danby, and on 79 Willmott was the second U's man to see yellow for bringing down Roberts as he threatened to break away down the right channel. I think it's called taking one for the team.
Ives continued to lead United by example with tireless running and prompting, but Reason still looked woefully out of touch and neither wing man could make much impression on Chester's stout rearguard. Ives slammed a fine shot just the wrong side of the post on 81, then Saah had a header blocked from Willmott's corner, while on 84 Tim Ryan's foul on Crow afforded Willmott a chance to try his luck from a free-kick, uninspiredly rammed into the wall.
Reason lifted a careless shot over the bar two minutes later, then Marriott came altogether closer when he latched onto a flick from Phillips to half-volley just over. But as the minutes ticked on to 90, an unlikely victory was snatched by the underachieving hosts.
Marriott drew a foul out on the left, United packed the box and Willmott's driven curler seemed to have been overhit to the keeper, but Crow did not give it up and bravely leaped to beat Danby to it and nod over him and into the empty net. What a relief: 1-0.
United duly saw out the three added minutes to snatch their first league win since they beat Kidderminster 2-0 on the 31st October. Add in a clean sheet and statistically it was a satisfactory night; but it had been some way from satisfactory in terms of performance, with Willmott and Pitt off colour, Reason's passing simply substandard, and the strikers really given very little service of any sort of quality.
Once more it was the young players who had come out of the evening with most credit, Ives reinforcing his claim for a starting place with an inspirational, dominating display at the heart of it, the 'fringe' defenders all performing more than solidly, and Marriott looks more exciting every time we see him. Credit also to Carden for playing most of the match in an unfamiliar position and to Crow for his sheer effort which was rewarded in the end.
But the report card will again read 'Must do better' and with upcoming opposition this month which looks infinitely superior to gutsy Chester (no, not Eastbourne, they're just a banana skin) the team will need a hell of a lot more players to show their best form together. No room for passengers. Otherwise the amber army's Christmas will be rather less merry than that of Mr Lawrence.
Statto Corner
Tonight's result continued Chester's historically dreadful record against United. In 28 league meetings over forty years, the Cheshire club has won just twice, against ten victories for the U's and 16 draws. Chester won the first-ever meeting of the clubs on 23rd September 1970, 2-1 at Sealand Road, but had to wait until 21 meetings later, on 24th January 1998, for their only other league win, by the same score at the Abbey.
In the fourteen seasons in which the clubs have met, the only ones in which United have failed to score were 1977-78 and 2004-05, when both matches between the clubs each time were goalless draws. United's best home and away wins were both by a 3-0 margin, at the Abbey in September 1974 with two goals by Bobby Shinton and one by Graham Howell, and away 24 years later with a brace from Paul Wanless and a single from Alex Russell.
Another notable away win for the U's came in March 1995 when they took a three-goal lead before half-time with goals from Carlo Corazzin (2) and Steve Butler. Home keeper Ray Newland had such a stinker that he was withdrawn and replaced by David Felgate for the second half, a possibly unique case in a U's match of a goalkeeper being taken off purely on performance grounds. Felgate kept a clean sheet and the final score was 3-1.
United's top scorers against Chester over the years have been Corazzin, Wanless and Chris Holroyd with three each; the latter, of course, notched a hat-trick at the Deva Stadium earlier this season.
The largest attendance at a match between the two clubs remains the 5,982 which saw their first ever meeting at Sealand Road in 1970. The lowest was also at Chester, just 1,015 witnessing a 2-0 win for the U's in March 1991, John Taylor claiming both goals.
United and Chester have met twice in cup competitions. Their last encounter before this season was in the LDV Vans Trophy in October 2005, when the U's won 3-0 at the Abbey with goals from David Bridges, Stephen Smith and Fola Onibuje.
The other meeting was, bizarrely, in the Cambridgeshire Professional Cup final in August 1992, when United's unpopularity under John Beck was such that they would play anyone willing to travel for the supposed local trophy. Chester took the Cup out of the county with a 1-0 win, but were not invited back to defend it, and it remains an oddity in the Cheshire outfit's list of honours.
The words 'Crow 90' have now appeared three times in United scorelines this season, Danny also scoring late in the 4-0 home win over Ebbsfleet, as well as THAT equalising penalty at Luton.
Player Ratings
Potter 7. A welcome clean sheet and rarely troubled.
McAuley 7. Doing fine until forced off through injury.
Coakley 7. Another calm, steady performance.
Coulson 8. Excellent, decisive and strong.
Saah 7. Unruffled defensively and threw in a few positive runs forward, too.
Willmott 6. In-and-out sort of match, although his splendid delivery created the winner.
Carden 7. Filled in admirably at right-back for much of the game.
Reason 6. Disappointingly out of touch with far too many displaced passes and a general lack of energy. Totally outshone by Ives. Time for a rest?
Pitt 6. A few flashes but not a patch on Saturday. That's our Courtney.
Holroyd 6. Experiencing the sort of drought every goalpoacher goes through during the season, albeit sticking him out on the wing didn't help, but never hid and always wanted the ball.
Crow 7. Not much of a goal threat for most of the game, but an extra mark for his brave winner.
Ives 8. Looks ready for a run in the starting line-up.
Phillips 6. Always gets stuck in but never seems to get enough time to truly settle.
Marriott 7. Potentially the most exciting talent at the Abbey and is starting to prove it in these late cameos.
Match Summary
Below-par United stole three points from dogged Chester with a barely deserved late winner in a forgettable match most notable for the contributions of the younger members of the squad who are now really starting to make their mark on the season.
Man of the Match
Sam Ives. When he came on he introduced a level of energy and commitment and a quality of pass that had previously been sadly lacking in his more senior colleagues' performance. Not so much knocking on the door now as ram-raiding it in a fully armed tank.
Ref Watch
Ford 7. Made himself look a little foolish with his early second-half decision in the Holroyd/keeper incident, but was otherwise fairly satisfactory.
Out of the Mouths of Babes
"They were lucky they won 1-0. I wish I was a ballboy." (Jason Cooper)
Soundtrack of the Day
Them Crooked Vultures 'Mind Eraser, No Chaser'
Andrew Bennett
Andrew's previous match reports
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