Ben Farrell made his first start for Cambridge United since joining from Bedford Town last month, yet the 21-year-old midfielder never looked out of place in the frenetic game against play-off rivals Stevenage Borough and indeed almost scored the winning goal.

He fired an 89th minute shot into the ground that bounced and looped over everyone in the area and seemed to be flying into the top corner before Scott Rendell got his head to it to make sure from very close-range.

The sponsors gave their Man of the Match to busy striker Lee McEvilly, but Setanta TV awarded their champagne to Ben on his full debut, and afterwards he enthused about the "fantastic" support from the home fans.

"It was really a dream start," he admitted. "The 'man of the match' award from the Blue Square and Setanta people was great, but the important thing was the three points in such a massive game for both clubs. The win was the main thing, especially after losing our unbeaten home record against Exeter."

Ben needed attention from physio Greg Reid after a bang on the head and he added, "I can't remember too much about my performance after that and my head is still throbbing a bit now!

"It wasn't easy out there - after 20 minutes I was blowing but the adrenaline kicked in and the fantastic support helped pull me through. The difference between playing for Bedford and Cambridge is huge, the size of the opposition and the pace of the game, but I'm confident in myself that I have the ability to make the step up and hopefully it showed out there."

Like his manager, the midfielder also praised the support. Over 3,100 home fans created a superb atmosphere throughout and Ben added, "The win must be partially credited to the fans. I've only been in this league for a few weeks but I've seen nothing compared to our support, and I can't honestly imagine too many clubs in the next two leagues up being anything like them.

"Their passion alone deserves a higher level of football so with their help we'll do our best to deliver it for them. That starts on Tuesday with a game just as big as this one, and we have to take this winning feeling down to Aldershot and do the same there.

"I'm sure we'll take another big following away and they can play their part as they have all through the season."

Interview by David Gray

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