Following the 12 goal bonanza on Saturday and the promotional "pay what you want" offer for this game, we attracted a bumper crowd of 227. Our first half performance would not have encouraged them to come back as we laboured against a committed hard working team that made things difficult for us by putting 10 players behind the ball. It was a tactic we expected after our nine goals against Woodbridge and one that we can expect on plenty more occasions if we continue our prolific start at home. The lesson to be learnt by the players is to be more patient and persistent. We live in a world where everything is instant and maybe with the age of our team, they believe that playing football is the same. The ease with which we scored our goals on Saturday probably didn't help. We warned them prior to this game that we would have to work harder for our rewards but once our initial opening salvo failed to bring the breakthrough, we too quickly lost our way and complicated the game. The tempo then died and whilst we enjoyed possession, it was only in our half and we moved the ball too slowly to affect the shape of their team. We then became anxious and frustrated, hit aimless straight forward passes and played into Newmarket's hands. It is difficult when the engine room is so inexperienced, our two centre midfielders only had a handful of starts between them, but it is then up to our senior players to dictate. In relative terms we had an experienced back four, so we are looking at these players to take more responsibility in seeing beyond their jobs to help others.

The pivotal moment arrived as we broke the deadlock just before half time when Newmarket would otherwise have been content with their work and delighted with a 0-0 scoreline. Ryan Ingrey, opened his account for CRC with a left footed finish past the advancing keeper to suddenly give the match a new complexion.

We could also address the first half issues with the players and we looked a far more purposeful, coherent and confident team in the second half. We stretched the visitors with a succession of diagonal passes and then played through them in the space we created. It was a matter of time before we scored a second goal and it was a deft Liam Hughes header from James Brighton's cross that doubled our advantage. Other chances went begging before the impressive Ryan Ingrey won a penalty, which was converted by James Brighton. The last twenty minutes was difficult for our opponents as they looked absolutely shattered. We finished the game properly by moving the ball and the tempo we created in the second half, as well as Ian & Mick's lush surface, took their toll. It is a credit to our players and a measure of our progress that we can come through tests of this nature so strongly. When you also consider our first choice central midfield pairing and right back (Berry, Allen & Thorpe) were sat in the stand, Ryan Ingrey was making only his second start and 16 year old Luke Hannant his full debut, it is even more pleasing.

I hope that as well as securing another three points that our second half performance might have encouraged some of the 227 in the crowd to give us another go and also spread the word to others. The difference a 200+ crowd would make in terms of support to the players and finance to the scholarship scheme is huge. Watching CRC gives supporters the chance to follow the progress of our young players and hopefully see the first steps into senior football of future first team players. Willmott, Coulson, McAuley, Ives & Marriott have already graduated into the first team squad and others will follow. We want this conveyor belt to produce young talented players for many years to come and the supporters of Cambridge United have a vital role to play in helping us achieve this aim. To this end, I would like to end by adding my thanks again to CFU for their match day sponsorship of this team. It is the perfect fit as CFU and CRC are both committed to the long term development and prosperity of the club. We are very grateful for their support and we will be working together over the coming months and years with other initiatives to benefit youth development.

[CRC Fixtures & Results]

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