Andrew Bennett reports:

They are battening down the hatches in the eastern United States where they had 20 inches of snow overnight on Friday, with supermarkets emptying, streets deserted and most public transport cancelled, the people staying home for a few days to enjoy the Superbowl and, quite literally, chill out. I gather John Terry is considering emigrating out that way, for a while at least.

There is also a degree of hatch-battening at the Abbey these days as the League results still fail to materialise, with the dreaded 'R' word beginning to settle around the place like an early snow shower and the promise of a greater deluge to come should the team not start to pick up some league points soon. I think even Darler and his mini-digger might struggle to get us out if it starts getting deep around April.

Martin Ling would doubtless argue that the green shoots of recovery are beginning to flourish in the likes of the club's new signings and the growing authority of Josh Coulson at the back. But his evolving side was faced with a giant storm cloud on Saturday morning when they travelled down to Crawley, always a tough (and loud) place to visit, with the knowledge that they would be starting without their two most senior pros, Danny Potter and Paul Carden, plus Brian Saah who was still absent with (whisper) that injury.

The weather on the way down was portentious: grey, chilly, claustrophobic, with great swathes of swaddling fog and low-scudding cloud, which made for a memorable sight at the Thames Crossing where the struggling sun managed to filter shafts of silver light through the clouds below like a midday full moon.

Surprisingly enough, it had all burned back when we reached Sussex and the Broadfield Stadium was bathed in watery sunlight, albeit it was still a cold, wind-chilled February afternoon. Crawley's out-of-town home remains unchanged but is a good example of how to build a modern, modest stadium fitting for the hosts' level of football, with a busy, welcoming bar and a club shop inhabited by the inimitable Ian Hands, a dealer and enthusiast of football programmes and memorabilia to whom it is always good to have a chat. All the ground needs now is a stand on the open side nearest the M23, but the paucity of the Red Devils' crowds (only two over 1,000 before today) make this neither a necessity nor a financial likelihood.

Without a league game since 23rd January (York at home), Ling made four changes to the team which drew with Salisbury in the Trophy on Tuesday. Laurie Walker made his competitive debut in place of Potter and cup-tied Aiden Palmer returned in place of Darryl Coakley. Changing the formation to 4-4-2, Simon Russell and Robbie Willmott were introduced as right and left flank players in place of Carden and Mark Beesley, Russell and Dave Partridge both League debutants for the U's. Latest signing Antonio Murray was on the bench.

Hosts Crawley had won three and drawn two of their last five league games to climb to tenth in the table, six points ahead of United. Leading scorer and former U's loanee Charles Ademeno, who scored a hat-trick in the first six minutes at Grays in late December, had come within two minutes of joining Torquay on Monday but had just missed the transfer deadline, although the Gulls were apparently still weighing up a loan deal, particularly now Scott Rendell has broken an arm. The huge, Lurch-like figure of Eddie Hutchinson in midfield was also familiar from his spell at Oxford and brief trialist tenure at the Abbey.

Instead of the whole away end as in previous years, the Amber Army was allocated just under half of that end plus the bit around the corner nearest the entrance, with a gap left in the middle (soon festooned with a flag or two) and the far end given over to home supporters, who occupied it when their team attacked that end in the first half then left it almost entirely deserted when they changed ends at the interval. There was still more than enough room for the travelling hordes.

With the crowd of 1,108 spread sparsely around the ground, you could have cut the atmosphere with a floppy stick of mouldy celery as the match got off to a low-key start. Ademeno got in the first shot on 3 but trundled lamely wide, and Crawley played most of the first few minutes in the United half. But Walker's goal seemed under little threat until his team hit the self-destruct button on 8.

A hopeful long ball seemed headed out of play down Crawley's right channel and Palmer led winger Barry Cogan in the chase to the byline. Palmer attempted to shield it out of play for a goal-kick, but Cogan simply hooked his leg around the pint-sized left-back, left him in a heap and cut inside, drifting easily past Coulson before slotting home past the helpless Walker from point-blank range. Dismal, Dog & Duck defending: 1-0.

Palmer has looked good for the U's but that incident betrayed the lack of competitive action he has enjoyed since his, er, release from Orient. United had been left on the starting blocks, although Russell had been a notable exception with a display of energy and dynamism up and down the right flank. Too many forward balls from the visitors, however, had been long, lazy high balls which Messrs Crow and Phillips had no hope of winning against Crawley's titanic defenders; why they keep doing this in every match is a continuing puzzle.

Gradually United began to discover that if they had the courage to actually play football and pass it to each other, they could bisect a really rather ponderous home defence. And gradually the wide men began to make an attacking impression. On 18 Willmott got down the left and crossed from the byline to Phillips eight yards out, but his shot with his weaker left foot was underpowered and blocked away by Adam Quinn, albeit with a suspicion of handball.

First yellow card of the day came on 22, Partridge with his first in black'n'amber for a crude clattering of Ademeno. United began to hit their stride, however, against a surprisingly understated home side which was displaying relatively little of the snarling, heavy-tackling attitude we have come to expect from a team led by that nice Steve Evans.

On 25 Jai Reason galumphed into box and tumbled under a challenge from Karl Broadhurst, but after a moment's hesitation, laissez-faire ref Bull took no action. Three minutes later the hosts could well have doubled their lead as a corner was half-cleared to Thomas Pinault, he lofted a forward pass into the still-crowded box and Ademeno somehow guided a free header over the top from five yards out. Let-off.

On the half-hour Walker comfortably held a scudder from Sam Rents, then Ademeno was foiled by good back-tracking from Russell when Gleeson conceded possession on halfway. Russell was also busy up the other end, firing over some decent crosses, although it took the visitors until the 36th minute to gain their first corner, from which unconvincing keeper Simon Rayner fumbled Willmott's delivery and was relieved to find no United man close enough to profit.

A minute later came United's best chance yet. Sam Ives fed Reason who slotted a defence-splitting ball down the left channel for Crow to run onto, free of any marker. But Rayner was equal to his shot with a fine one-handed save, and the ball was cleared for a corner. Then more good passing sent Crow clear down the left again, but with Ives waiting in the middle his low cross was poor and underhit, and Rayner gathered comfortably.

It was all United now, but they had conspicuously failed to take any of their chances. Regrets? They'd have a few. Palmer, still a little jittery, lost possession on 44 and let Pinault in, but he fired wide, and there was just time for Russell to blast over for the visitors before the interval. It had been a familiar story so far: wasteful finishing, soft goal conceded at the other end. Could the U's break the cycle in part two?

United dominated the first ten minutes of the second half, forcing two early corners and testing Rayner with one of Willmott's driven curling free-kicks, which he duly fumbled again, but recovered as it dropped behind him. There was still little controversy in this usually fairly fraught fixture, but on 50 Broadhurst was first into the book for the hosts for a blatant handball from which he amazingly claimed innocence even as he was being carded. Rayner gathered Willmott's free-kick.

The man in black had endeared himself to the home fans by awarding their heroes a series of soft free-kicks in the first half, but he seemed to have swapped sides after the break by doing the same thing for the U's. Walker gave us the collywobbles when he hesitated before making a clearance on 54 and hit it straight at Ademeno, but the ricochet ran wide of goal to his undoubted relief. His kicking never really recovered after that.

Crawley began to ease their way back into the contest as United's blunt attack again failed to deliver a telling blow, and just before the hour they could easily have sealed it when Michael Malcolm's corner beyond the far post was headed back into the middle by Quinn and Broadhurst nodded wide of a wide-open target from close range.

Ben Smith then flashed a shot wide for the hosts before Reason did well to rob Hutchinson and send Phillips away, but his cross was cleared by Broadhurst. On 67 excellent work by Russell in the left-hand corner (he and Willmott swapped flanks intermittently) saw him win the ball, beat two men and send over a cross which Rayner flapped at but still could not find a U's man on the end of it. Then Ademeno broke away up the other end but after a neat cut inside blazed wildly wide.

On 70 the toiling Phillips was replaced by Mark Beesley, and three minutes later Murray got his debut in place of Ives to follow in his father Jamie's illustrious footsteps. But although United were still enjoying the lion's share of the possession, they were not testing Rayner nearly enough even though he looked about as comfortable as a puppy sitting on a hedgehog.

Ademeno found another opening on 79 but Walker plucked his shot from the air with aplomb, then Reason's through ball saw Crow easily beat Rayner's panicky rush from his area, but driven wide, he only had the diminutive Russell to cross to in the middle and it was headed clear. On 82 Adam Marriott replaced Crow, while Danny Forrest came on for the hosts' Smith.

Walker saved from Forrest's shot three minutes later, then Lewis Killeen became Crawley's second timewasting sub for Malcolm, but as the clock ticked away, United seemed to lose all semblance of patience and resorted to just lumping it long, inevitably surrendering possession and allowing Crawley to run the clock down with some award-winning theatrics.

Four minutes were added, in which Ben King replaced Ademeno, but United's bolt was well and truly shot. Game over.

Six consecutive league defeats equals the disastrous run under Jimmy Quinn three seasons ago. Now Martin Ling must find the answer that his predecessor found before things get really serious. The foundations are there: solid defence (bar the occasional crass error, Mr Palmer), some creative midfielders when they apply themselves, and Russell and Willmott looked a very promising wing pairing. But football is all about goals in the end, and that is one thing this team simply cannot buy at the moment. And all the nice defending and fancy build-ups in the world are worthless if you have strikers who are unable to find the net and you keep chucking ones in your own end.

There are no easy answers, and who knows, it might just click one day like Quinn's side did. But we need that to happen sooner rather than later, gentlemen. Storm clouds are gathering. Umbrellas at the ready…

Statto Corner

Antonio Murray is the first son of a United player to follow his father into the first team since the legendary Harvey Cornwell's three boys, Harvey Jr, Jack and Sam, turned out in the Cambs League days of the 1930s alongside their ageless dad. Since then the offspring of U's men such as Steve Spriggs, Keith Lockhart and Dave Donaldson have played schoolboy football for United, but never made it as far as the professional ranks.

Jamie Murray made his debut on 2nd September 1977 alongside another League debutant, Terry Owen, whose son Michael also went on to become a pretty decent footballer. While Owen returned to the North West after just one League appearance, unable to afford a house in the Cambridge area, Murray went on to play 238 times for the U's, plus 18 sub appearances, scoring three goals from left-back after an initial spell at left-wing.

His most notable achievement was a club record that still stands today: most consecutive League appearances (135 from 8/11/80 to 14/1/84) and most consecutive League and cup games (148). United lost their last game before that run started 6-1 at Bolton, and lost their next game after the run ended 5-2 at Charlton, Murray joining Sunderland on loan then moving on to Brentford before returning for a swansong in the first half of the 1987-88 season.

Antonio, named after his Italian grandfather, has faced United seven times in Histon colours, four in the Conference and three in the FA Trophy, scoring twice: the last goal in THAT 5-0 Trophy match in December 2006, and the second in Histon's 2-2 draw at the Abbey on Boxing Day 2008.

Murray's predecessors in the number 8 squad shirt were John Taylor, Terry Fleming, Jermaine Easter, Ciaran Toner, David Bridges, Rob Wolleaston and Andy Parkinson.

Two further (unrelated) Murrays have represented the U's. Full-back John signed from Morton in 1971 but made only three appearances before moving on to Cambridge City then returning to Scotland with Queen of the South. Freddie, yet another full-back, played 90 times for United (plus 10 as sub) from 2001 to 2004 before joining Northampton then playing for Stafford, Stevenage and Exeter, moving to Grays earlier this season but then being loaned almost immediately to Luton Town.

Laurie Walker is the eighth player with that surname to play first team football for the U's. The first, William, dates back to Abbey United's Cambs League days, while midfield man Dennis's career spanned both Southern League and the club's first two seasons in Division 4 before he was sold to Poole Town for the princely sum of £1,600.

SInce then we have seen goalkeeper Phil (19 games between 1974-76), striker Colin (one goal in three games in 1985-86, later manager of York City), Port Vale loanee Ray (five matches in 1994-95), Villa loanee striker Richard (later of Blackpool, Northampton, Oxford, Bristol Rovers, Shrewsbury and Burton), and last but not least, popular midfield playmaker Justin (two goals in 64 games from 2003-05, last seen at FC Halifax).

Laurie is the ninth player to be allocated the number 31 shirt but only the fifth of that number to play a competitive game wearing it. The full list is: James Mercer, Armand One, Dan Gleeson, Tom Beech, Sam Reed, Gavin Heeroo, Dan Crane and Sam Cutler.

Charles Ademeno scored one goal in one start and five off the bench for United in the 2006-07 season, on loan from Southend. His only score came in a 2-2 draw at Morecambe. He has now played four times against the U's, twice each for Salisbury and Crawley, without scoring.

Eddie Hutchinson played for the U's as a trialist in a 3-1 home friendly defeat by Coventry in July 2008 while between contracts at Oxford. He subsequently returned to the Kassam Stadium, but a mix-up in his re-registration cost the club a points deduction that ultimately prevented them from making last season's playoff positions.

Player Ratings

Walker 6. A decent debut after so little activity this season, his handling was safe and he cannot be blamed for the goal. Needs to improve his kicking, however, and must also be much more vocal and command his area. Goalkeeper is no position for shrinking violets.
Gleeson 7. His usual reliable self.
Palmer 6. His hideous, basic error effectively cost United the match, although to his credit he did not try to hide afterwards. Hopefully a lesson learned.
Coulson 7. Another strong, decisive display to cement his claim for a regular start. Could do with varying his standard distribution ploy of banging a hopeful long ball in the general direction of the strikers.
Partridge 7. First booking and probably not his last, but stayed cool and calm throughout.
Russell 8. Human dynamo.
Reason 7. Haven't seen him put in so much running all season.
Ives 6. Decent effort without doing anything special.
Willmott 7. Best performance for some time, just needs to tweak his set play delivery so it is slightly further away from the keeper.
Crow 6. Put the work in but missed a glaring opportunity to equalise.
Phillips 5. Not best served by his 'service' which consisted of far too many high balls, albeit he appears to have no spring in his legs whatsoever, but he just doesn't seem to be able to stamp his impression on a game, and like Crow, muffed his main chance to score.
Beesley 5. Non-impact sub.
Murray 6. Did not see enough of the ball, but looked OK when he did get it.
Marriott 5. No time to make an impression.

Match Summary

One moment of pub league defending from Aiden Palmer sent United to defeat against an ordinary Crawley side which was outplayed for much of the afternoon but stood firm against the visitors' profligate, powder-puff attack. Some good individual performances could not compensate for another collective failure.

Man of the Match

Simon Russell. Outstanding full debut, full of energy, commitment and no little skill, whether attacking the Crawley rearguard or tackling back to help the defence.

Ref Watch

Bull 6. Strangely erratic display, letting some clear fouls go unpunished while stopping play for some really rather trivial incidents. Random.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

"The boys beat the girls at shouting this year." (Dylan Hardman)

Soundtrack of the Day

MIA "There's Space For Ol Dat I See"

Knowing MP3, Knowing U's with Dave Partridge

United's new centre-back reviews the Broadfield Stadium sounds. "All right, you lot? I'm over the moon at taking over the record reviews from Parky, 'cause I love music, me. And I like my music TOUGH and FAST and PUNCHY, a bit like me in a nightclub. Ha! Ha! Only joking there.

"They played some good, rabble-rousing stuff today: the Undertones, the Kinks, Biffy Clyro, Green Day, even 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick' - that Ian Dury didn't stand for any nonsense! Katrina & the Waves are a bit poppy for my liking, but catchy enough, but I was never keen on that 'Another Brick In The Wall' mullarkey and James Morrison's last album was called 'Songs For You, Truths For Me,' which I reckon says it all, eh?

"Last up, that Journey song. Am I the only one who thinks it is about as inspiring as a dead cabbage leaf covered in dog dirt? Blimey, I've heard more cutting edge rock and roll on 'Listen With Mother'! Here's hoping for some Sham 69 next time! DP's verdict: 7/10."