United failed to gain ground on leaders Aldershot on Tuesday following the 2-1 defeat at Crawley, and after the match opposition manager Steve Evans gave Doug Shulman his thoughts on the game.

"Cambridge have come here in second place and are an excellent side, but the biggest credit I can give us is that although they scored a goal, we have restricted them to very few chances throughout the game.

"We should also have had a penalty, perhaps Jimmy doesn't think so, and we've arguably had three or four good chances. If anyone here tonight doesn't think that we deserved to win then they must have been watching the game from the car park. I though we battled all the way through."

Thoroughly Deserved

Evans continued, "I also heard they had one or two players missing, but I would love that luxury as I had 15 players that included a load of kids on the bench tonight. Most of our players are around 20, their players are more experienced and have a bit of quality, but I thought the win was thoroughly deserved; we were magnificent. If we are going to progress, these are the kind of sides that we have to beat."

The former Boston manager stated that he was also looking to bounce back after last Saturday's defeat at Northwich: "I was looking for a reaction as I thought last Saturday we smashed them (Northwich) but they scored twice against the run of play, and we also scored a perfectly good goal that wasn't given.

"As a manager you always look for a reaction and we've played some good sides here recently; Exeter especially, but we could have scored five or six against them. Cambridge too are a good side, but Jimmy Quinn won't have any complaints tonight. They got beaten, but have probably played a lot worse and won. They are a good side, they have an excellent manager in Jimmy and a good No. in Willy Wordsworth."

Young Side

Focusing again on the youthfulness of his side Evans quipped, "Jimmy Quinn will be driving away from the Broadfield Stadium knowing they've been in a game. We're a young side, but you know we're going to have a go. I've told both Paul Buckle and Gary Waddock that too - that we'll always give it a go.

"We'll do the same on Saturday at Burton; Nigel Clough has put a good side together but we'll battle and rest assured that when we go there next Monday as well (Aldershot), even though they are the Champions elect, we'll put up a fight because we want to compete and see how well we can do."

Utmost respect

The Scotsman also reserved special praise for United. "We need to be able to compete with the Cambridge United's on a very regular basis, as they may come here again next week and beat us, but thankfully we were at the top of our game this evening. I've told our supporters to go home tonight and put the kettle on as we're going to be for challenging for the Play-offs next season, so you'd better make sure there's water in it!

"The main thing is that Cambridge have turned up tonight and know they've been in a fight. But I have the utmost respect for them - I have family behind that goal tonight who have travelled down and given me a bit of stick with their text messages, but we wish them every success.

"They are a fantastic club, and I wish everyone from Cambridge a safe trip home and best of luck for the rest of the season."

Interview by Doug Shulman

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