Speaking after Cambridge United saw off Eastbourne Borough to reach the Third Round of the FA Trophy for the first time on, manager Martin Ling was pleased with the performance as well as the result.
"It's good to be able to move forward after a run of defeats. We got our noses in front and we did well moving forward to score." Commented the boss after Sam Ives and Jai Reason sealed The U's progress. "We can look forward to next Tuesday, though whether it will be in the league or Cup we don't know yet."
He continued, "Having three up front gave us more of a cutting edge. It let us break forward quicker so it was productive for us today. I've used the system previously and will do again if it's right, but we'll use 4-4-2 if it's needed."
A fine Danny Potter save kept the score at 1-0 before half time, but Ling was pleased by the way the keeper was protected by his young back four.
"Eastbourne had a couple of set plays but Danny Potter's only had one save to make. That said, there have been occasions where he's not had much to do and we've still lost. We had Brian Saah who was the oldest of the defenders at 23 so it was a good defensive performance. It's been a sharp learning curve lately but they all did their job tonight.
"We played some good football and it was important that we got in front. We have no game on Saturday so we'll make the most of it and have other sides watched. Paul Carden's going to watch Oxford play Chelmsford and I'm off to Salisbury against Maidstone."
Speaking on the transfer front, Ling was delighted to sign centre back David Partridge, while admitted that Chris Holroyd's future is still unresolved.
"David's 31 so he brings in some more experience. He's played in Europe for two seasons and he's a full Wales international. He's been training with us for five or six days so he's a good replacement for Wayne Hatswell."
On Chris Holroyd, Ling noted that "The deal is currently stalled. He's still contracted to us, he trained with us on Monday and he trained very well. As with all deals it needs three parties to agree to it: two clubs and a player. He's our player until we're told otherwise."
Matt Ramsay
