Competition: Blue Square Premier
Weather at kick-off: overcast
Goals:
Farrell 9', Beesley 52' (Pitt missed pen 90')
United ended a run of three away defeats as Ben Farrell and Mark Beesley returned to the team to score the decisive goals at bottom club Droylsden.
Jimmy Quinn made five changes to the side beaten 3-0 at home to Kidderminster last weekend, recalling Danny Potter, Danny Brown, Ben Farrell, Mark Beesley and Lee Boylan in place of Alex McCarthy, Mark Peters, Stephen Reed, Jack Jeffery and Magno Vieira.
United lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Danny Brown at left back and Michael Morrison on the right and Ben Farrell and Courtney Pitt in the wide midfield roles, and began brightly. Inside the first minute Danny Brown, making his first start for two months, passed to Rob Wolleaston who released Mark Beesley into the area but his snap shot was blocked by the keeper.
Despite having already played on Tuesday and Thursday this week, Droylsden issued warnings that they were not here to make up the numbers and seized upon some lazy defensive clearances to counterattack, with Ashley Burberry looking lively down the left and Jamie McGuire lifting a volley over the bar in the sixth minute.
But United took the lead three minutes later at a well-worked corner, Wayne Hatswell nodding Courtney Pitt's flagkick back into the middle and Josh Coulson working the ball on to Ben Farrell who had space to turn and fire home his first goal for Cambridge United. He turned away with his fist raised in clear delight and the support from the already noisy travelling fans went up a notch.
The home side were forced into an early change when striker Steve Daly - just back from a three-game ban - failed to run off an injury and was replaced by Robbie Talbot, while United continued to threaten with Boylan, Pitt and Wolleaston looking particularly lively.
Hatswell headed another Pitt corner over the bar in the 17th minute, and two minutes later Paul Carden was the first man to have his name taken when he committed a professional foul on Chris Denham to prevent a Droylsden breakaway.
The home side continued to threaten on the break and had a couple of corners cleared, and the competitive nature of the game was underlined by a talking-to for Mark Beesley who flew into a challenge on the half hour and then McGuire who appeared to catch Hatswell in the face with his elbow two minutes later.
The U's defender resumed with a bandage around his head and indeed got his head to the first in a series of United corners soon afterwards, and with Droylsden's defence looking uncertain at set pieces Wolleaston's corner was cleared as far as Josh Coulson who came agonisingly close to his first goal but headed narrowly over the bar.
Pitt was giving Lee Roche a torrid time at right back, going inside or outside the former Manchester United trainee almost at will, and as the levels of frustration in the Droylsden team rose referee Sarginson's patience with the previously-warned Chris Denham ran out in the 42nd minute. The midfielder raked into Danny Brown from behind and collected the second card of the afternoon, and as play entered stoppage time Roche clattered Pitt after being nutmegged and was also deservedly booked, attracting jeers from the away fans as he stormed away from the referee.
Half-time summary from match commentator Mark Johnson:
"United in front and deservedly so with Droylsden's defence showing the composure of Corporal Jones and Courtney Pitt running his opponents silly. They're still a threat on the counter but so far, so good."
Second half:
Courtney Pitt began the second half as he finished the first, collecting a through ball from Boylan and beating Roche before lifting a shot over the bar from the edge of the area.
Danny Potter was called upon to claim a Droylsden corner five minutes into the half, but two minutes later United's lead was extended when Wolleaston challenged bravely for a 50/50 ball and it span loose for Mark Beesley 20 yards out to drill home his second goal since joining the club at the end of January
With the away fans in loud good humour and Droylsden looking drained, the vastly-experienced Ged Murphy replaced Burberry in the 57th minute.
Pitt and Wolleaston were still causing problems on the flanks and on 58 Wolleaston earned another corner for United and then connected with Strong's headed clearance to drive a 20-yarder wide of the far post.
Jimmy Quinn refreshed his team by sending on Robbie Willmott for comeback man Ben Farrell in the 67th minute and the pacy teenager made an early impression by bringing the ball forward and sliding it through for Beesley, who was narrowly beaten to the ball by a defender.
Droylsden counterattacked and Danny Brown made a superbly-timed challenge on Denham as he threatened to break into the area, while the forecast rain arrived and began to lash the ground.
The tempo of the game had dropped since the second goal and Droylsden manager Dave Pace tried to shake things up with a like-for-like change to bring on striker Adam Dugdale for Terry Fearns, but the U's threatened again on 78 as Beesley burst into the area and was only denied by Colin Cryan who stretched to get just enough contact on the ball to divert it to safety.
There was a minor scare for United in the 83rd minute when Potter missed a Droylsden corner and Danny Brown made a vital headed clearance but the danger was not properly cleared and Dugdale had time and space to curl a shot over the U's bar.
The game sparked into life again in the 90th minute when Rob Wolleaston was hauled back in the area by Levi Mackin, who was booked for the foul, and a penalty was awarded. Courtney Pitt clearly fancied his chances after an excellent performance and seized the ball instead of usual penalty taker Lee Boylan, but his spot kick was pushed away by Paul Phillips and Pitt blasted the rebound over the bar.
Jimmy Quinn withdrew Boylan, who had covered every blade of grass, and sent on Crawley loanee Magno Vieira for the closing moments, before the final whistle marked the end of United's run of three away defeats and results elsewhere saw the U's move up to third place from fifth.
Cambridge United:
Danny Potter, Michael Morrison, Josh Coulson, Wayne Hatswell, Danny Brown (c); Ben Farrell (Robbie Willmott 67'), Rob Wolleaston, Paul Carden, Courtney Pitt; Mark Beesley, Lee Boylan (Magno Vieira 90').
Subs not used: Mark Peters, Stephen Reed, Jack Jeffery.
Booked: Carden 20' foul
Droylsden:
Paul Phillips, Lee Roche, Colin Cryan, Greg Strong, Sean Newton; Chris Denham, Jamie McGuire, Levi Mackin, Ashley Burberry (Ged Murphy 57'); Steve Daly (Robbie Talbot 16'), Terry Fearns (Adam Dugdale 75').
Subs not used: Karl Monroe, Danny Ellis.
Booked: Denham 42' foul, Roche 45' foul, Mackin 90' foul
Referee: Mr C. Sarginson
Att: 634 (away 275)
Mark Johnson's Match Summary:
"Cambridge United returned to winning ways with a comfortable victory at rock-bottom Droylsden. A goal inside the first ten minutes of each half saw Ben Farrell and Mark Beesley find the net as United dominated from start to finish. While the Droylsden defence showed the composure of Corporal Jones, Courtney Pitt ran his opponent silly as United won with plenty to spare. The only blot on United's copybook came in stoppage time as Courtney Pitt missed a penalty, but if you're going to miss one, doing it at that stage of a game when you're 2-0 up is probably the time to do it."
Mark's Man of the Match:
"Courtney Pitt - despite the penalty miss, he ran both opponents on that side into the ground. Honourable mentions for Paul Carden who controlled the centre of midfield, Danny Brown who put in a solid 90 minutes on his comeback, and Wayne Hatswell who made light of a head injury."
Ref: Mr Sarginson - tried to let the game flow when possible. 7/10."
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