Darryl Coakley barely had time to catch his breath during the summer. While Sam Ives, Adam Marriott and Jordan Patrick were offered professional deals in the spring of 2009, Coakley had to wait until June to discover his fate.
A month later, he found himself heavily involved in the pre-season campaign, amid much managerial instability. And when Anthony Tonkin was injured, the 18-year-old left-back was soon starting the opening fixture of the Blue Square Premier season in front of 3,000 people at the Abbey.
"I didn't expect it to begin with, but after Tonks got injured I didn't really get a chance to think," he admitted.
The tenth scholar to turn professional since the inception of the revamped youth scheme in 2006, Coakley was made to wait for a decision. One by one each player was called into the boardroom late last season, and while three of his colleagues received the news they had hoped for, he was offered only a 'maybe'.
"I didn't really worry, I just focussed and tried not to think about anything else," he said.
Once the fit-again Tonkin was restored to the side, his understudy was able to reflect on his four-match spell in the team and he says, "I think I did alright; I could have been more vocal but what I did was good and I don't think I let myself down.
"I'm hoping to get another chance and I can learn from Tonkin; I can ask him anything.
"It was a quicker tempo than the Ridgeons League," he adds. "There are some experienced players who know how to use their bodies to their advantage. But you get used to the physical side of the game in the Ridgeons - it is good playing against men from an early age."
Coakley, who is polite and engaging throughout our conversation, has also set his sights on challenging Wayne Hatswell in the goalscoring stakes. He has so far managed one FA Vase goal for the CRC side, and, he proudly admits, even managed to score direct from a corner last season.
"In training I like to have a shot, I'd say all left-footers have a pretty clean strike on them," he says.
"I've had a couple of strikes in the first team but they weren't the best - I got the ball out of my feet but didn't connect properly." (Or perhaps he connected too properly, as some of the drivers on Newmarket Road might be able to attest!)
As we were talking, one of the ground staff passing by even compared the young defender to former England international Jason Wilcox: "Well, you look a bit like him," he reasoned.
Darryl, from Bury St Edmunds, spent eight years with Ipswich Town before joining the Cambridge United youth set-up in 2007, and unsurprisingly he is quick to praise Jez George's role in his rapid development since.
"Over the last few years, Jez has done a lot for me, and my dad obviously was important when I used to play for Ipswich, he's always helped me out a lot."
Closing on an off-beat note, I ask Darryl whether he has any pets. "No pets," he says, "but my grandad has pigeons."
But unlike them, Darryl won't have his wings clipped, as he continues to fly assuredly towards the top.
Henry Milward
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