Andrew Bennett continues his comprehensive review of last season, moving into the month of April 2008.

McEvilly was to go to Lilleshall for a week of intensive tests and rehabilitation. JQ brought back his mate the sports psychologist in a bid to arrest his team's recent slump, and set them a target of second place and remaining unbeaten. Leo Fortune-West returned to train with his employers, but it turned out that the terms of his loan to York meant that could only play for them for the rest of the season. So he went back again.

Saturday 5th April: Droylsden 0-2 U's [att: 634, away 275]

Droylsden's homely Butchers Arms, only two miles from Manchester City's enormodome, was a pleasant, unpretentious venue with welcoming staff and a top-notch supporters' club, personifying all that is good about non-League. Sadly their team was out of its depth, rock bottom and the programme recorded unflinching season's stats such as 'Most Consecutive Wins: 1, Most Consecutive Defeats: 11.' It also revealed that their record transfer fee was for Terry Fearns, but that the amount was 'undisclosed.' So Lord only knows how they could tell that it was a record. United made five changes, Potter back in goal, Boylan partnering Beesley up front, Farrell restored to midfield and Brown at left-back in a fluid 4-4-2.

They got the early lead they wanted on 9, Pitt's corner headed back by Hatswell and Farrell lashing high into the net through a crowded box for his first U's goal. It was not hard to see why the hosts were bottom, their back four looking shaky in front of the smallest keeper in the BSP, although United could not add to their lead in the first half. Hatswell suffered a McGuire elbow to the head and was forced to continue with a large white bandage around his head.

The U's finally doubled their lead on 52 via a quite superb 25-yard hammer blow into the top left corner by Beesley. The noisy amber hordes started a round of bouncing which started with Willy Wordsworth and worked its way around the dugout, with even a policeman joining in gamely. Droylsden were spirited but toothless, but it was not until the last minute that United looked like notching a third: Wolleaston was fouled by Mackin for a penalty and Pitt grabbed the ball confidently from usual taker Boylan. Unfortunately the confidence in his brain did not transfer itself to his left foot, and his feeble effort was blocked by keeper Phillips then he blasted the rebound wildly over the bar.

JQ was underwhelmed but understated: "...He's a bit disappointed with that and I am as well..." All in all it was an efficient win in front of United's lowest league crowd for 34 years, and even better, Torquay and Burton had lost. Most notable other loser was the dishevelled U's fan who remained fast asleep on the away terrace after everyone else had filed away. Hope his trousers dried eventually... Man of the Match: Wayne Hatswell

There were some familiar names in the BSP's monthly player awards with both North and South prizes going to former United players, Craig Westcarr of Kettering Town and Paul Bastock of St Albans City.

Tuesday 8th April: Rushden & Diamonds 1-2 U's [att: 2,358, away 1,176]

United's away support had been amazing all season, but they surpassed themselves with almost half of the attendance at Nene Park on a midweek night. United stuck with 4-4-2 with Albrighton returning to replace Coulson and CRC keeper Phil Smith on the bench due to Mark Peters' absence through illness. In an atmosphere that was more electric than the National Grid, Rushden enjoyed the better of the early exchanges with United banging too many high balls towards the outgunned Boylan and Beesley, and a forgettable first half ended goalless. There was drama when the U's started part two with only ten men, Carden still receiving treatment for a clash of heads, and it took Reed five minutes to come out and replace him, baffling the fourth official who indicated on his board that he was replacing number zero.

United began to up the tempo and forced a series of corners, Roberts saving well from a Hatswell header and Boylan glancing just wide, and their pressure told on 65. Ironically it started with a Diamonds corner from which the U's broke quickly through Reed; he made it all the way to the byline, then crossed to Boylan, then to Wolleaston, and the United playmaker threaded an exquisite ball through the home back line to find Beesley's intelligent run. He slotted calmly home across the keeper and in at the far post. Nine minutes later it was two, Pitt sprinting half the length of the pitch then crossing low for Beesley to dart in and ram home at the near post; cue utter bedlam in the away end and an outbreak of quite extraordinary dancing, to boot.

Rushden pulled one back within a minute. With Wolleaston and Pitt lying injured, Tomlin sped down the left and crossed for Michael Rankine to fire home from close range. The hosts continued to press but lacked punch, and Beesley was unlucky not to claim a hat-trick three minutes from time when his 25-yard blaster was fumbled around the post by Roberts. United claimed their thirteenth 2-1 win of the season, including six comebacks from 1-0 down.

JQ paid tribute to the supporters: "All the players are desperate to do it for the fans. The vocal support we've had is absolutely amazing; they're a big part of my team and you can hear them shouting 'Jimmy and Willy' which makes you feel good and makes the players feel good." Man of the Match: Mark Beesley

Danny Brown revealed his no-nonsense defending policy afterwards. "I was up against another tricky winger at Rushden and I'd had enough of him by half-time, so I went old school and just smashed him down in the corner. The gaffer wasn't too pleased with me getting booked at the time, but he understood what I had to do afterwards and funnily enough, I didn't see that player on my side of the pitch in the second half." Find that one in your fancy UEFA coaching manual, Jimmy!

Our old chums Setanta now decided that every BSP match on the last day of the regular season should now kick off at 5.15 to enable them to show one live. How convenient. Four new choices of away kit were revealed, two dark blue, one red and one claret. The second Abbey Beer Festival commenced in the Fans' Bar on the Friday; perhaps a few pints of some spectacular local brew would help the supporters choose. There was good news about McEvilly as he completed some straight-line running after returning from Lilleshall. JQ cautioned "He's still a way off."

Saturday 12th April: U's 1-2 Stafford Rangers [att: 3,810, away 48]

Next up was what appeared to be the home banker of the year against a Stafford side which had sunk to the bottom, had had relegation confirmed in midweek and had lost its last seven matches. Gleeson replaced Brown, sidelined with a shoulder injury, as United went 3-5-2, and after a minute's silence to commemorate the passing of former manager Alan Moore, the U's were one up inside seven minutes, Farrell drilling a 25-yard fizzer into the bottom corner. To everyone's surprise, however, Stafford were level within a couple of minutes, Ross Draper skipping clear onto a through ball then squaring for an offside-looking Grayson to steer home. A somewhat turgid battle ensued, with little penetration on either side, the floodgates staying resolutely jammed shut.

Worse was to come on 64 when Nathan Smith sprinted onto a flick over the top and finished emphatically to give Rangers the lead. United huffed and puffed impotently, going to 3-4-3 and introducing Jeffery, and the sub nodded a good chance wide. In added time a Beesley scudder hit the foot of the post, but it was not the hosts' day. JQ summed up his team's display as "disgusting" and "The most disappointing performance of the season so far," adding "I can only apologise to the fans for that." In addition, Carden's tenth booking triggered a two-match suspension, and the only silver lining was Burton's defeat at Aldershot and Torquay's victory at Stevenage.

On the Tuesday United played out a friendly in Norwich against the Canaries' reserve side, putting out the first team in the first half then a mixture of trialists and scholars in the second, including 'a Brazilian defender who Chilli knows' and Portuguese ex-Weymouth midfielder Sido Jombarti, recommended by his former boss Jason Tindall who was doing some scouting for the U's.

JQ asked Dion Dublin whether he would like to come back on loan from Norwich or play for United next season, but the Abbey legend was set on retirement and media work as a pundit with Sky Sports. He had certainly earned it. Lee McEvilly was back in light training and it was hoped that he might play some part next week.

Saturday 19th April: Salisbury City 0-2 U's [att: 1,710, away 604]

Salisbury's Raymond McEnhill Stadium was a strong contender for most forbidding visit of the season, a basic, quaint little venue set miles from town by a desolate former army housing estate and over a mile from the nearest pub with no admission to their supporters club. In an isolated, exposed spot with a hard, sloping pitch, it was easy to see why Histon's fellow promotees had settled comfortably into their first term at this level.

United returned to 4-4-2 with Gleeson and Brown at full-back and Beesley and Jeffery up front with Boylan dropped to the bench. Salisbury had gained a reputation as an, ahem, confrontational outfit, and they started the way they meant to carry on, Rob Sinclair clattering Pitt to the ground early on. After several more nasty fouls and Matt Tubbs' usual diving antics, matters came to a head on 14 when Michael Fowler (!) received a deserved straight red for a two-footed lunge at Wolleaston.

The atmosphere on the bench was no better, home assistant coach Barry Blankley even going so far as to push the fourth official in the chest, but United remained calm and took a deserved lead on 29, Reed's corner helped on by Brown and Jeffery was on the spot to turn and prod home his first U's goal. United proceeded to lay siege to the home goal and doubled their lead on 41 when Jeffery's pinpoint cross was buried by Beesley's far-post diving header. Jeffery hit the post in the first minute of the second half, then United gradually sat back.

Blankley was finally dismissed from the bench on 70 after one rant too many and Morrison picked up the season's silliest booking when he was booked for timewasting at a throw-in as he tied his bootlaces. United held on comfortably for their third away win in a row (the first time in ten years) and after a ruthless, professional performance, they needed one win from their last two games to clinch a berth in the playoffs. Man of the Match: Dan Gleeson

Next week the fans' website awards were announced, with Danny Potter a deserved Player of the Season, Michael Morrison got Young Player for the third time in a row, and Goal of the Season was Wayne Hatswell's sensational forty-yard free-kick against Forest Green.

Tuesday 22nd April: U's 2-0 Torquay United [att: 4,100, away 103]

The scene was set for another one of those special Abbey nights, and friend of the club Richard Caborn got proceedings off to a rousing start with a cheering speech before the match. With Jeffery returned to West Ham after the expiry of his loan, Lee Boylan was restored in a 4-4-2, Morrison depping for Farrell, against a Torquay side which seemed clear in 2nd place and had already clinched its playoff place, but they did not yield to the temptation to play a weakened side. United started nervily and Brown was forced to clear a Roscoe D'Sane header off the line early on, but they gradually began to pull themselves together, Boylan firing over on 26 and Albrighton's header from a Reed corner coming off the outside of the post eight minutes later.

Then on 41 the U's were ahead. The creator was Gleeson, intercepting a pass on halfway, holding off the challenge of Zebroski to muscle forward and find Beesley with a diagonal ball; the striker squeezed the ball home from an outrageously tight angle at the near post. Cue bouncing all around the Abbey and confidence flooding through players and supporters alike. On the stroke of half-time it was 2-0, Gleeson crossing, Boylan causing confusion in the box, and Beesley latched on to tap home. The bouncing was redoubled.

The feelgood factor increased even more when McEvilly trotted out to replace Boylan for part two. The second 45 was an even contest but United never looked in danger of surrendering their lead and amidst memorable scenes at the end, even JQ had a little bounce while Willy improvised a full dance routine reminiscent of a slightly crazed Michael Flatley. Either Burton or Exeter awaited in the playoff semi-final. Man of the Match: Mark Beesley

Saturday 26th April: Northwich Victoria 0-2 U's [att: 1,512, away 600]

The last matchday of the regular season was a celebration for both sides at the 'Home of Manchester United Reserves' as the hosts had clinched a miraculous escape from relegation with a victory at Stevenage on Tuesday which had also knocked our friends from Hertfordshire out of playoff contention. In addition, Mrs Quinn had delivered a baby son the previous day. Big Daddy JQ shuffled the pack with seven changes, Peters and Coulson in central defence, Willmott making his full league debut and McEvilly paired with Vieira up front.

A blizzard of Yellow Pages heralded a match played in an atmosphere of untrammelled happiness, and after a slow start on the pitch, United were ahead on 23 when Vieira used his blistering pace to scamper onto a long ball past a static back line and slot home. Vieira almost doubled his tally two minutes later with a flick that beat the keeper but was cleared off the line by defender Welch.

In an entertaining, end-to end encounter, Carden missed a good chance for his first United goal on the hour, and no further goals ensued. Then seven minutes from the end, news leaked through that Torquay were one down at home to Crawley and Burton were leading Exeter 3-2, a combination of scores that would see third-placed United play fourth-placed Burton; but one more U's goal would see them leapfrog Torquay on goal difference and get saddled with the longer trip to the one playoff team they had not beaten, Exeter. So it was that the U's support began to exhort their team not to score again; so, of course, they promptly did, Vieira spinning and shooting low past the keeper from close range. The mental calculators came out as Crawley went 2-0 up at Plainmoor then were pulled back to 2-1, while at the Pirelli, Burton extended their lead to 4-2.

The final whistle was greeted by great celebrations from both sets of fans, teams and supporters paying tribute to each other as JQ was handed a 'Congratulations' card. "It looks like Cambridge are playing Exeter…" announced the PA. Then, as the elated amber hordes began to exit the ground, came the dramatic news that Exeter had pulled it back to 4-4 in the sixth minute of injury time to send them back above Burton; it would be Torquay (3rd) versus Exeter (4th) and Burton (5th) versus Cambridge United (2nd). Cue another outbreak of wild celebrations in black and amber. Optimism was in the air after a strong finish which had seen United win their last four away games for the first time in fourteen years. JQ hailed the league season as a "magnificent achievement." Man of the Match: Magno Vieira

Vieira's loan was promptly extended to 18th May to encompass the playoff final. The squad was increased further by the return to the Abbey of all four loan players, Fortune-West, Convery, Smith and Hoyte. The Abbey was to be renamed the 'Trade Recruitment Stadium' in a five-year sponsorship deal worth £50,000 per annum.

Five United players were named in the preliminary England C squad for the Four Nations Tournament in late May in Wales, which also involved Scotland and, er, Gibraltar. The lucky five were Potter, Hatswell, Wolleaston, Gleeson and Morrison, the previous Under-23 restriction not applying to this competition.

End of month position: 2nd

Andrew Bennett

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