Andrew Bennett concludes his review of last season with the eventful month of May 2009.

May 2009: "It's like déjà vu to be here again..."

The second playoff semi-final first leg saw Torquay defeat Histon 2-0, giving both Cambridgeshire teams a mountain to climb if they were to reach Wembley.

Monday 4th May 2009: Cambridge United 3-0 Stevenage Borough (AET) (BSP Playoff Semi-Final, Second Leg)

Scorers: Willmott 56, Rendell 72,119 | Att. 6,507 (away 1,173)

Bank Holiday Monday brought a Cambs double-header, with United handed the lunchtime kick-off. What the United players - and supporters - needed to bring was belief. The Stevenage fans' banner read 'Destiny will always take over,' which was a little more thought-provoking than a nearby flag which proclaimed, rather less poetically, 'Man United, Stevenage, Paul & Baz.'

Brabin reverted to his favoured 4-4-2 formation, restoring wide men Willmott and Pitt plus Rendell, who partnered Phillips up front, with Crow and Challinor relegated to the bench and Coulson missing out on the final 16 due to the return of Parkinson. The visitors' Murphy was reprieved from a ban after video evidence showed that his red card had been an error, so their only change was Mills for Mendes.

The atmosphere crackled like a proper semi-final and United started determinedly, pushing Stevenage back while the visitors tried to slow the game down like the U's had in the first leg. Reason tumbled in the box early to no interest from the ref, and although the U's enjoyed the better of possession, their nice approach play could not produce a serious effort on goal. Stevenage, however, seemed content to sit back and soak up the pressure, hinting at a somewhat negative mindset which might just cost them dear.

Then, out of the blue, United were caught out by a long ball down the middle which sent Morison clear with only Potter to beat; but somehow he poked feebly wide from the D. United finished the first 45 on top, but they still had nothing to show for their territorial dominance.

Perhaps they needed a stroke of luck to break the deadlock. And ten minutes into the second half, that's exactly what they got: Willmott picked up possession on the right, advanced, cut inside and with his left foot fired in a cross/shot which deflected off Laird and flew unstoppably past Day into the top corner. The Abbey became Bedlam City; United dared to dream.

Stevenage introduced the more physical Callum Willock for the invisible Boylan on the hour, and eight minutes later Parkinson replaced Pitt as the U's remained in the ascendant. And soon the sides were level on aggregate when Hatswell rose to head Reason's free-kick across goal, and there was predator supreme Rendell arriving at the near post to tuck home. The Boro fans were shell-shocked, and the Amber Army were pretty stunned themselves; the mountain had become a molehill.

The sides slugged it out gladiatorially, and the nearest either team came to a winner in normal time was right near the end. Adam Drury thrust into the box, Potter came out to intercept, the shot beat him but was hacked off the line by Tonkin but only to Morison in the six yard box. With an open goal, save for two U's defenders, his hesitant goalward prod was cleared off the line again by Hatswell, and by some sort of miracle, the danger was averted. If Destiny had taken over, it certainly did not favour Stevenage.

After an extended break, the teams resumed in extra time, and five minutes in Laird caught Reason with a reckless lunge and saw yellow for the second time for the fourth dismissal in four games between the sides this season. United remained calm, Carden testing Day with a blaster, and the visitors made a positive substitution in Mendes for Drury, although coach Dino Maamria was sent from the bench for cynically kicking the ball away when his players made a mess of a free-kick.

In the second half of extra time Gleeson made a superb hooked clearance with Morison poised to pounce behind him, Rendell guided a header across goal then at last the pace of Holroyd was introduced for the hard-working Phillips as United went for the jugular. Stevenage packed the box, crosses rained in, but penalties seemed inevitable as the last minute of the 120 ticked around.

But skipper Carden had other ideas, dribbling towards goal as Boro stood off deep, exchanging a one-two with Reason and firing low for the bottom left corner from 18 yards. Day dived low and got a hand to it, but Rendell was already anticipating and stalked in to prod the rebound home from the angle. The eruption of the Abbey made Krakatoa look like a sparkler. 3-0!

A minute later it was all over and an ecstatic pitch invasion celebrated an epic, exhausting rollercoaster of a victory. But we had done this last season, too, albeit not quite as dramatically, and breathtaking and unforgettable as the match had been, there was another one due in a couple of weeks' time which was infinitely more important and needed our fullest preparation and attention.

Brabin reflected, "I'm delighted because I think we deserved it... After the first leg Stevenage were celebrating and I think they were organising their Wembley trip; a few of their lads have done our team talk for us with some of the things they've said on Setanta, and our lads have responded today... We've had a few challenges this season and I'm proud of the lads; I keep saying it but they've been different class... We dominated the game for 120 minutes and I thought we footballed them to death."

Now it was all about the build-up to Wembley. The final would be against Torquay, who went down 1-0 to Histon but triumphed 2-1 on aggregate. Dan Gleeson, though, enjoyed the distraction of another England 'C' call-up for the International Challenge Trophy versus Belgium at Oxford, two days after the playoff final.

The Conference, in its infinite wisdom, had appointed an agency as sole vendors of final tickets, and their inadequacy of organisation became apparent all too soon, with seating-related problems to the fore all the way through to final day.

United unveiled a special one-off amber playoff final shirt to be worn on the big day, and with 2009-10's early season ticket purchase discount extended to the 15th, sales topped an impressive 1,750. There was a determination at the club, however, led by Brabin, to stage a lower key build-up than last year, with no extended hotel stays or special suits, and indeed no media contact during the last few days leading up to the final.

Brabin explained: "I just want them to prepare the way we have all season. I want them to take it out of the equation that they're playing at Wembley. It can be either a great experience or a bad experience and if we perform the way we can then it will be a great experience on Sunday. You're better off thinking about and savouring the experience after the event, because otherwise it will be a massive disappointment."

Scott Rendell was made available for transfer by Peterborough, subject to a fee naturally, and Jai Reason was advised that his contract with Ipswich would not be renewed when it expired at the end of June. But there were to be no contract talks with United until after the final.

The good people of the Kershaw Group showed their faith in the U's by signing up for a club record-breaking ninth and tenth years of away shirt sponsorship.

There was eleventh hour drama when Kidderminster keeper Adam Bartlett was signed on an emergency loan the day before the final when Danny Potter injured himself in training. It was not the best portent for one of the most momentous games in the club's history.

Sunday 17th May 2009: Torquay United 2-0 Cambridge United (Wembley, BSP Playoff Final)

Scorers: Hargreaves 35, Sills 75 | Att. 35,089

Without the wide-eyed wonderment of last year's novelty, it was a more businesslike United support which arrived at grey, chilly Wembley, and the razzmatazz of the build-up was more tolerated than enjoyed; we just wanted to get on with it. The U's support was, though, as impressive as ever, some 21,000 souls bedecked in black and amber from old-school Fujitsu and Howlett shirts to box-fresh souvenirs straight from the club shop or the unofficial tat sellers along Wembley Way. By contrast Torquay's support seemed minuscule, well under half of United's number and congregated in three clumps, behind the goal and along each side.

The fancy videos, the karaoke opera singing, the player introductions all passed at a snail's pace, and after a false-start PA introduction which caused about five tons of Yellow Pages to be flung into the air to herald nothing, the teams finally emerged through smoke and fire, sound and fury.

The Amber Army's worst fears had been realised when it was announced that Bartlett would be making his United debut in the most dramatic of circumstances, Potter ruling himself out with courage and unselfish dignity. The U's were otherwise unchanged, although according to the name on the back of his shirt, one of the strikers was called 'Phillps.' Torquay, too, showed only one enforced change, Elliot Benyon replacing injured Blair Sturrock.

After a low-key start there was controversy on 5 when Tim Sills appeared to fell Hatswell with a forearm smash as they both rose for a high ball, but the ref saw nothing cardworthy. Within fifteen minutes both players had been booked for fouls on each other.

Play flowed back and forth and it was United who enjoyed the better of the early exchanges without causing keeper Michael Poke many palpitations. Their best effort came on the half hour, Willmott cutting inside and going for goal from a narrow angle and seeing his effort well parried by Poke. But minutes later, it was the Devon side which took the lead.

Benyon held the ball up on the edge of the area, and lank-haired veteran Hargreaves galloped forward, brushing aside the feeble challenge of Reason, to lash impressively home past a statuesque back four and a helpless Bartlett from twenty yards. Here we go again.

It was almost two-nil seven minutes later when Sills' cross was blocked by a combination of Bartlett and Gleeson, it spun free into the incoming Benyon's path, but Gleeson picked himself up and hoofed clear in the nick of time.

After starting the better, the match had started to run away from the U's, the wingers' attempts at crossing mostly poor, the midfield tentative and too slow to get forward in support of the strikers, and the forwards starved of quality supply, although Bartlett had been faultless.

United started part two reasonably well without looking like equalising, and on the hour the frustrating and disappointing Pitt was withdrawn for Parkinson, although Parky is never as effective when playing on the left and many of us would have liked to see the pace and spark of Holroyd in Wembley's wide open spaces.

But twenty minutes from time came the death knell for the U's when Bolland received his second booking for a silly, needless foul on Benyon, totally and bafflingly out of character for one of United's players of the season. His team-mates tried to remain positive, playing on with three at the back, but they had a lucky escape when Sills smashed Nicholson's free-kick against the woodwork and Chris Todd spooned the rebound wide.

In chasing the game United started to leave yawning gaps at the back, and when Wayne Carlisle hared into the space where Tonkin should have been, he was free to cross for Sills to crash a running header home from close range, Bartlett again with no chance. Game over.

Challinor replaced Carden, who had obviously been carrying an injury, then Willmott was also forced to withdraw to hand a (too) late outing to Holroyd, the club's most in-form striker of the latter part of the season who had lost his starting place at just the wrong time.

The U's toiled valiantly to the end, with a particularly good penalty appeal from Rendell, but we all knew our worst nightmare had come true; they had pulled up short of the final hurdle again.

Brabin reflected with his usual positivity: "I'm delighted with the lads and what they've given all season. We took automatic promotion to the last game of the season, we've come to Wembley and I thought we were the better side, we played some good football, and only for a few little decisions not going our way and possibly us being a bit better with our end product we could have easily won the game.

"Obviously we're disappointed but we need to regroup now and assess what's happened, dust ourselves down and get ready for next season."

Dan Gleeson's reaction reflected those of players and supporters alike: "It's like déjà vu to be here again talking like this. If anyone deserved promotion it was those fans out there. They've outnumbered Torquay 3 to 1 and they were magnificent. We can't ask for any more from them. The last three or so games at home we've had 6-7,000 in the ground and there are clubs in League 1 who don't match that. We all can't thank them enough and they deserve promotion as much as we do.

"I really thought today was going to be the day but we'll have to go that one place better next year. It's just so hard to take but I suppose that's football and that's why people love it. I just don't at the moment."

It is easy to bemoan the unfairness of a league system which allows a team to finish runners-up twice in a row but to lose promotion in a one-off game against a team which finished below them. And there is no doubt that the strength of the BSP merits at least three promotion places, which will surely come in due course.

But unfortunately, United have failed to deliver when it most mattered for the second year in a row. They played marginally better than last season, but too many players failed to find anything like their best form when it was really needed, did not seize the day with both hands, and lacked the mental strength to express themselves freely. Torquay were really nothing special, but they were efficient, professional, held themselves together better and took the chances that came their way.

All this disappointment, however, should not hide the fact that until that bitter end, United had given its loyal followers one hell of a good season. To equal last season's league placing and record points tally after the extreme turmoil of the departure of Jimmy Quinn and half the squad in what seemed like the blink of an eye, reflects great credit on Gary Brabin, his staff and a fine playing squad that has brought us all so much pleasure this season.

Doubles over Kidderminster, Barrow and Salisbury, superb defeats of Burton, Wrexham, Eastbourne, Kettering and Rushden, the 'impossible' pursuit of Burton, that unforgettable extra-time semi-final destruction of Stevenage, and yes, finally getting the measure of Histon were just some of the highlights of 2008-09.

One of the club's most solid ever defences, led by the twin towers of the outstanding Hatswell and Bolland, the inspiration of Danny Potter, the leadership of Paul Carden, the goal power of Scott Rendell and, for a time, Lee McEvilly, the thrilling potential of youngsters like Holroyd, Willmott, Reason, Coulson and the next generation coming through via the outstanding CRC team are all reasons to remember this year with pride.

And with United continuing to move forward off the pitch, too, and over 1,700 season tickets sold for next term, there is every reason to look forward to 2009-10 with renewed optimism and enthusiasm.

As John Beck said, a generation ago, "Success is everybody's desire but can only be achieved if you have the courage to meet failure without being defeated. It is refusing to let present loss interfere with your long range goals. Success is accepting the challenge of the difficult."

A football club isn't just for Wembley; it's for life.

Andrew Bennett

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