Cambridge United: 2012 / 2013 Season Finale

Hello everyone and it’s my pleasure to bring to you this seasons conclusion to my Cambridge United FMS. If you recall things were very tight at the top of the with our schedule matching us aginst other promotion candidates. Let’s see what happens…

With all-out war about to happen at the top of the table it was very much a morale boosting victory that saw us brush aside Barnsley at The Abbey Stadium to start of the end of season run in with goals coming from Keane, Newton and Scott Wootten.

The following game was away to Cardiff which signalled the start of the battle for promotion. After a tense opening 20 minutes Cardiff took the lead through a long range effort and that would be the only goal of an otherwise lack lustre first half. Nuno Santos scored the equalizer right from the restart but Cardiff responded with two goals in six minutes to leave us reeling and to add to the pain Will Keane picked up an injury. However my young side fought back forcing an own goal on the hour mark and as we continued to pressure the Cardiff end a magical through ball by Cuveller found Rasmus Falk who kept his head and slotted it home to tie the game and rescue a point.

“Come on you U’s” was the rallying cry from the fans as we took the field at Abbey Stadium to face league leaders and champions elect Plymouth Argyle. We started aggressively with chances early on both for Petrucci and Conor Newton whilst at the other end Plymouth kept our keeper busy who was assisted by the wood work as well. Cometh the hour…cometh the man and that man was none another than Will Keane who judged a bouncing ball from a long clearance perfectly lobbing the stranded Plymouth keeper to give us the lead at half time. Plymouth tried in vain throughout the second half to find an equalizer but LB Victor Fernandez was simply brilliant thwarting their attacks and so we were able to celebrate an important victory.

Next up was the key game away to Colchester who were in third place but still very much in contention for an automatic promotion spot. Neither side took any serious risks with Keane putting in a nightmare performance for us whilst the Colchester keeper played a memorable match pulling off a string of fine saves to keep us at bay and so the game ended scoreless.

Here’s how the top ten places look with three games to play. Plymouth have already been promoted. We have to play MK Dons and then Walsall both of whom are in with a fighting chance of a play-off spot.

Following the Colchester game Nuno Santos’s loan spell was up and so he returned to Aston Villa. I will surely look to bring this Portuguese youngster back next season.

We were back at the Abbey Stadium for our next game to take on MK Dons with a win that would pretty much ensure promotion. Victor Fernandez scored the opening goal with a bullet of a shot from a free kick which 15 minutes later he supplied the cross for Conor Newton to head in and double our lead. An unselfish act by Will Keane saw him square the ball to Davide Petrucci whose precision shot easily beat the MK Dons keeper though a stray pass by Victor Palsson allowed the visitors a way back in the game and it was 3-1 at half time. Scott Wootten headed in from a corner soon after the break to all but kill off the game with Jabob Walcott adding another in the 82nd minute before we gave away a consolation goal.

Here’s a look at the table with just two games left in which we just need one point to go up.

We travelled to Walsall next which was heading for one of those bore draws before Davide Petrucci slotted home the winner with 5 minutes left on the clock and guaranteed promotion. With Plymouth losing for a second game in a row we were now tied on 90 points with them so could we snatch the title?

The fianl game of the season saw Carlisle visit the Abbey Stadium where a win could mean we could snatch the tiltle if Plymouths dip in form continues. In front of a capacity crowd we mounted attack after attack on the Carlisle goal but it was one of the games where despite enjoying the majority of possesion we couldn’t make the final touch end in the back of the net. To the delight of myself and the home fans it was work horse Shane Williams who broke the deadlock intercepting a poorly cleared ball just outside the penalty area which he drove home giving the Carlisle keeper no chance. That was all that was needed for the three points but sadly for us Plymouth managed to scrape a win with just 10 men and won the league on goal difference.

The lads put in a tremendous effort during the closing stages of the season and although it’s disappointing to concede the title by just three goals we far exceeded expectations and so playing in The Championship next season is cause for celebration.

Results Summary

Here are my super seven’s players and its LB Victor Fernandez who is the top rated player in the Cambridge squad with no surprise in seeing Will Keane up there too. Seeing Fernandez is quite pleasing for me as I’m still playing my left sided tactic which builds from the back though my formation has been different over the last few months switching from the old Wrexham  4-4-2 to a 4-2-3-1.

So that completes this report and the season as well. I’m already looking forward to the off season to see what that brings as well as my pre-season report. Thanks for reading this update have a terrific weekend and see you soon!