Hard on the heels of a disappointing draw at ten-man Shrewsbury, the Lads and their followers travelled to Cambridge for the first time in nearly two decades and withstood a weather-fuelled onslaught in the second half to hold onto their 2-1 halftime lead. Goals from either Pritch direct from a corner, or an OG, depending on who you ask, and a thunderbolt from Broadhead, either side of Cambridge's equaliser, won us the points as the wind took charge of the game.
Now that we’ve had three days to digest the events of Tuesday evening, it can be seen that the fans are clearly in three camps. “Johnson must go”, “Johnson must stay”, and “you know what? I’m tired.”
Then, of course, there’s the Sunderland situation, which is pretty similar, but without references to Peppa Pig. Some have defended the decision to replace O’Brien with Evans, as that awkward Shrews player needed dealing with, while others, myself included, could only see the negativity in it. Keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is a sign of madness, and our constant changing of managers (or head coaches) hasn’t done us any favours – even though the club’s structure means that the head coach is just a very public piece of the jigsaw and therefore no more or less dispensable than any other part. The fact remains that, while we’re not tearing the league up, we’re in a sort of decent position with game(s) in hand, although expecting to win those games in hand is simply doing the same thing over and over and is thus a sign of madness. I rest my case. Friday afternoon was spent at the opening of the Bishop Auckland FC museum in the town’s market place – just the place for a spot of nostalgia about the Bishops and other Northern League clubs.
Last time we’d visited the Abbey Stadium, Lionel Perez had been lying behind the goal in a manky grey tracksuit, having decided that he was better off there than on Tyneside, which he’d described as “the worst move of my life” and headed for the banks of the Cam. He was still on the book sat Cambridge, on the brink of a glamour move to Enfield, so I assume it was his last chance to soak up the atmosphere. Anyhow, as we were a middling Prem side back then, October 1st was our first League Cup game, and with Tommy Two making his debut (that’s Myhre, ask yer dad), goals from Reyna and McCann gave us a half time lead, and Julio added to that before doubles from Marcus Stewart and Tore Andre Flo (honest, I was there) made it 7-0. Those were the days, eh?
Anyhow, after a night of weather that had Winnie the Pooh searching for the new definition of "blustery" and that had laid waste to large parts of Spenny high street, we were off. Dodging puddles down the A1, swapping snow stories, and sorting out transport to Ipswich before receiving the inevitable news that my greenhouse had changed postcode during the night.
After cocktails in Huntington, we arrived at the ground at 13:45, keen to experience the "fanzone", which turned out to be a few picnic tables, no draught beer (or lager), and £4.50 for a can of Carling or cider. For their biggest away crowd of the season. Dear me how. Enjoy the experience, said the banner, which wasn't very easy given the lack of anything to enjoy. And it was wet. Rumours of a falling-out between Stewart and LJ didn't mean LND (loch Ness Drogba) was left out, but when the boss said "hands up if you want to play", Luke's arm fell off.
Hoffmann
Winchester Wright Doyle Flanagan
Gooch Neil
Dajaku Pritch Broadhead
Stewart
...or summat like that. The way they were warming up suggested the back four as I've listed them...and Cambridge had a bloody drum in the end from which the wind was howling. So we defended the end opposite our softy, sitty-down fans. There was a nice tribute to a local lad who'd been a victim of the London bridge attack two years ago, then things got underway. With the wind on our backs, Cambridge kicked off, with Gooch going to right back and Winchester into midfield. Gooch saw a lot of the ball early in, and was instrumental in a few decent attacks, although we didn't make the keeper work, with Stewart almost but not quite getting an effort on target. Thankfully, when he did get the ball, the keeper insisted on hoofing it high then wondering why it hung in the air above halfway before flying back in his direction. To make things worse for the Us, they also had a defender who did exactly the same. Dumb and Dumber, I reckon.
On about 15 minutes, Pritch slung in a corner from our left, and there was confusion as it flew over everybody and hit the back post in its way in, although the powers that be reckon it hit goalkeeper Mitov before crossing the line.
Bovvered? Not me - it went in, and that's what counts, but the least they could do is credit Pritch with the assist. If you watch the replay, you'll see Flan's shirt being pulled right up his back, so perhaps the ref would have punished that anyway. I doubt it, mind.
We had a decent spell of attacking, as you'd expect with a wet gale on our backs, and Dajaku was linking nicely with Pritch to pester the home defence down our left. He even had the honour of retrieving the ball from a skip for a throw - you'd not get that experience in the Bundedleiga, Leon. Despite this, Cambridge drew level on 25 when they broke through the left side of our defence and the ball fell to Smith, who squeezed it under Hoff at the near post. I believe that was their first effort of any sort - it was certainly their first on target, and a very disappointing way to lose the lead.
Pritch was booked, a little harshly, for a ratting challenge on halfway from which he emerged with the ball, but it didn't dampen his enthusiasm.
There were a few more Pritch corners, from either side, which caused understandable havoc in the goalmouth, but Cambridge always managed to have a body in the way to prevent us getting a shot on goal. When Pritch did manage to get a shot away, Mitov was equal to it. Ten minutes after their goal, they allowed Gooch to work well with Wright (Dee knaas what he was doing up the right wing) before it was played to Broadhead, and he turned away from his marker to unleash a left-footer from the edge of the box that screamed into the top left corner. What a beautiful goal, worthy of any game, and our fans behind and to the side of that goal celebrated as only we can.
The rest of the half was a tale of some more Sunderland corners and some Cambridge breaks that were ended by either solid defence or a particularly strong gust of wind. Thankfully, the drum in the home end was banged with about as much enthusiasm as a Jack Rodwell tackle, and when two added minutes were announced we drowned it out as we urged the Lads on for a third.
2-1 up at the break, but I'd have preferred more, as that wind was going to be a problem in the second half. To keep us entertained during the break, Lionel himself strolled onto the field and gave us a wave.
I was right about the wind, as once the second half started, Cambridge won corner after corner, and employed some pretty sneaky tactics in trying to keep Hoff away from the ball - none of which worked, as he managed to punch away those the defence couldn't get their heads to. A couple of offsides also helped our cause, and Hoff"s kicks were a lot better than his opposite number's, mostly staying low enough to avoid the worst of the wind, and on one occasion allowing us to set Dajaku away down the left.
Stewart got onto a clever ball from Neil, but went down under pressure and our cries for a penalty were waved away by the ref. Big Ross charged through again soon after but lost his footing in the box and went down like Bambi on ice. You had to laugh. Broadhead did well to chase a lost cause to the left corner, but when the ball was eventually laid back to Neil his shot from distance was a yard too high.
Cambridge then varied their corner routine, taking an outswinger that hung in the air near the edge of the box, but their man made a real mess of things, slicing his volley high and wide.
With thirteen to go, Cambridge brought on Knibbs and Tracey for May and Brophy, and Tracey was an immediate danger. He was lightning quick, and Gooch had to be on his toes to prevent him getting away or into the box. We countered this by swapping Pritch for Will Harris, and the youngster went up front to allow Stewart to drop into defence when needed.
Gooch did well when Cambridge worked a shot, diving in to block, and when we got it forward, Stewart's low shot on the turn went the wrong side of the keeper's right hand post - but was possibly covered anyway.
A good take by Hoff had us breathing a sigh of relief, as did every Cambridge ball we let run for a goal kick - from which we started to play it out, which was nice, keeping it on the deck until we were in the other half. With only the one goal advantage, there were many nervous glances at the scoreboard, and I think there were four minutes added - it was a tad noisy during the announcement. We soaked up what we had to, and we passed it about when it was sensible to do so as the seconds ticked away - then it was over, and players and fans alike celebrated. Not a brilliant performance by any stretch of the imagination, but a good victory in difficult circumstances, and the win is the most important thing
Man of the Match? Cracking goal from Broadhead, a busy afternoon by Pritch, but I think Gooch gets my vote for good work at both ends of the field.
