Cambridge United have a great chance to leap above the Conference relegation candidates this weekend, as we entertain Gravesend & Northfleet at the Abbey. This game was rescheduled from March, despite having played Liam Daish's high flying Gravesend side only a month ago. The Fleet arrive at the Abbey on the back of a 1-0 defeat at Morecambe, their first league away defeat since Weymouth at the start of October.
Gravesend, based in Kent, have surprised more than a few people this season after a pedestrian campaign last year. A dull 16th place finish saw fans pile the pressure on manager Liam Daish, but the board kept faith with the former U's legend.
The club made the bold move to a full time status, which unfortunately left to a few players leaving.
Those unwilling to give up their lucrative 'day jobs' for professional football had to move to pastures new, including winger Adam Drury, a player who was loved by the crowd at Stonebridge Road.
With Drury departing amongst others, the murmurings of discontent had started amongst the supporters, many worried the club could be committing financial suicide by going full time. But the bonuses of this move meant Daish had the ability to attract a bigger range of players, and the improvement of fitness levels. Last season 20 goals were scored against them in the last ten minutes, Daish often ruing his side's lack of fitness against the more able, professional outfits.
In pre-season the results went against the Fleet, as they barely won a game, although Daish continued to stress the team were coming close to gelling ready for the new campaign. As well as Mark DeBolla joining from Grays, Lance Cronin (Shrewsbury), Jon Keeling (Canvey Island) and Peter Hawkins from Rushden all penned deals for the Fleet side. Striker Onomo Sodje signed from Charlton, the Gravesend management believing he could prove the perfect foil for Charlie MacDonald, one of this seasons prolific forwards.
Come August 12th, Gravesend travelled to Aldershot for their opening game, and duly threw away a two goal lead to lose 3-2 in the dying minutes. A 4-1 thrashing of Tamworth three days later relieved that frustration, but York arrived the following weekend to claim three points with an efficient 1-0 win. Desperate not to have the inconsistency that dogged the team last season, all at Gravesend buckled down and they soon embarked on a fine 9 game unbeaten run. This propelled them into the play-off places, normally uncharted territory for so-called minnows such as Gravesend.
During this unbeaten stretch, Forest Green and Altrincham were despatched pointless before creditable away points were earned at Southport and Halifax. A shock 2-0 home win over high flying Grays made the headlines before two further draws with Exeter and Rushden. Daish wasn't too downbeat about his side drawing a few games, it showed they were becoming hard to beat. St. Albans were defeated 3-2 before the 0-0 draw with Dagenham secured Gravesend's finest unbeaten run since winning promotion to the Conference in 2002. That run was sadly ended days later on Sky TV, Weymouth earning a 2-1 success as the Fleet players suffered defeat for the first time in almost two months.
That loss was quickly forgotten when they beat Cambridge United 2-0 at Stonebridge Road, a U's red card and a penalty giving Gravesend more than ample help to win.
Days later came Gravesend's strangest result of the season, when they entertained strugglers Stafford Rangers at home. Fully expecting to build on their recent superb form, the Fleet crashed and burnt and were smashed 4-1 by Rangers. Daish, a classy defender in his playing days, was furious and vowed never to see his charges humiliated so easy again. He expected a response and got one, his side beating Burton and Woking 1-0 in the space of a week, the clean sheets pleasing Daish after the Stafford drubbing. After that came FA Cup disappointment, losing to Jeff King's Chelmsford outfit 1-0, a day Fleet admitted they were not at the races.
The main man for Gravesend's success so far is 24-year-old striker Charlie MacDonald. The former Charlton trainee has netted 13 goals from 18 starts this season, including one against Cambridge last month. 'Macca' had struggled to find a settled club since leaving Charlton, playing at Margate, Crawley and Stevenage before finding his spiritual football home at Stonebridge Road.
Northfleet will be hoping MacDonald stays injury free, as only five other players have found the net this season. One of them is Mark DeBolla, but he could missing through injury on Saturday. DeBolla was also at Charlton as a youngster, but moved to Chesterfield in a bid to restart his career. Lack of opportunity saw him transferred to Notts County then Grays, but their wealth of talent found him surplus to requirements. He had found a new lease of life at Gravesend before his ankle injury, starting every game and scoring six times.
Goalkeeper Lance Cronin had several stitches in his head after a clash with a Chelmsford striker, but he has been cleared to play, whilst midfielder Mark DeBolla will be facing a late fitness test after injuring his ankle against Weymouth last month. Jon Keeling, Ross Smith and Stacy Long have all overcome various niggles and will be fit and raring to play if selected.
We have met Gravesend only three times in the Conference since our relegation from the Football League, and have still yet to defeat them. As mentioned further up, we lost 2-0 last month at Stonebridge Road, where we drew 0-0 last season during the clubs first meeting.
Our last clash at the Abbey was a dour affair, ending in a tepid 1-1 draw. Gravesend took the lead through Jimmy Jackson, but were hindered when Paul McCarthy earned himself a red card by hauling down Fola Onibuje who was clean through on goal.
The Cambridge pressure told and Courtney Pitt scored an equaliser with 77 minutes gone, but although United pressured they couldn't find a winner, Pitt and Medine both missing glorious opportunities in the dying minutes.
Current Form -
CAMBRIDGE UNITED - LWLLLD (20th)
GRAVESEND & NORTHFLEET - WLWWLL (7th)
Chris Vessey
Make Your Click Count For The U's - talk about it on the Message Board!
The views expressed on this page are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cambridge United Football Club or the webmaster.
AT061110
