Cambridge United: Jan — Feb 2014

Hello everyone and welcome back to my Cambridge FMS and a Happy Canada Day to you all as we celebrate in Toronto and around the country the formation of Canada in 1867.

January 2014

The New Year started off with a trip to The Reebok Stadium to meet league leaders Bolton in the Third Round of The FA Cup. I decided to start young Spanish midfielder Imanol Eslava and he grabbed the opportunity setting up and an attack that he finished off himself to put us in front within 5 minutes. Chances came and went throughout the first half but we weren’t able to extend our lead and with Bolton pressing more and more after the break they found the equalizer in the 72nd minute taking advantage of a knock to LB Fernandez who I couldn’t get off the field. Eslava who had been outstanding throughout played a visionary pass to his countryman Baston who slid the ball under the sprawling Bolton keeper to send us ahead once more with seven minutes remaining. That was enough to win the game and send us through to the next round.

Following the dramatic win in the FA Cup we travelled to Huddersfield for our next Championship game where snowy conditions thwarted any chance of drama at all.

Next up was a key game against fourth place Nottingham Forest where we needed a win to maintain a challenge for an automatic spot. The home fans had very little to cheer about in the first half but five minutes after the interval a break away by Borja Baston resulted in a cross into the box and Newton was there to slide the ball home. Immediately Forest countered, won a penalty, but missed! Baston slipped two defenders to extend our lead after 69 minutes and completed his brace with a diving header from a Julien Gorius lob into the box for a critical victory.

The final game of the month was away to Reading where Borja Baston gave us the lead after only three minutes which turned out to be the only goal in a very forgettable encounter.

Transfer News

Spanish left back Yuri Berchiche appeared to have accepted a new contract and then turned around and signed for Palencia who seem to be a lower league club in his native homeland. He is currently valued at £350,000 after I picked him up for ZERO from Real Union two years ago. Darn!!!

• Striker Davide Petrucci joined Norwich for £85,000.00. His contract was up in the summer and he demanded 3 times his currently salary which we couldn’t simply afford. After losing Berchichi for nothing I wasn’t going to let that happen again.

• Turkish striker Nadir Ciftci whose contract was also up this summer went north to Darlington for a fee of £6,000.00

• Newcastle’s 18 year old Anthony Gibson will be joining us on loan for the rest of the season to back up Baston and Bodul up front.

•   We made another last minute loan signing this time from Chelsea and yet another Spaniard – Joaquin Angulo who looks to have the necessary requirements as a rotational player. Excellent physical attributes should allow him to effectively challenge in midfield

February 2014

The first game of the month was our Fourth Round FA Cup tie at home to Doncaster Rovers and it was ML Alex Smith who gave us the lead after 27 minutes with a curling shot from just outside the box. Doncaster replied immediately with a goal from a corner and the score stayed the same until the interval. We dominted the second half but once again Bodul who blows hot and cold on the field was down-right freezing so on came Newcastle loanee Anthony Gibson and scored within two minutes of touching the field. Scott Wootten then decided to kick the ball in his own net for no good reason to level the game once more but Gibson wasn’t finished yet with a diving header three minutes from time to win the game to cap off a spectacular debut!

Following the Doncaster victory we drew our next two games with Borja Baston getting an equalizer 5 minutes from time at home to Wigan and then we threw away all three points by allowing an easy goal deep into injury time away to Sheffield Wednesday. A goal late in the second half by substitute Anthony Gibson proved to be enough to take all three points at home to Millwall.

Next up we travelled to Coventry where after much frustration throughout the first half ML Jacob Walcott finally broke the deadlock with an inspirational run down the left flank which was finished with a coolly placed shot under the Coventry keeper. Walcott added a second from a defence splitting pass by Shane Williams that Walcott controlled, rounded the keeper and tucked home to the delight of the fans that had journey with us. Defender Sead Harrovic killed off the game with a neatly placed header from a free kick in the 71st minute.

FA CUP FIFTH ROUND: FEBRUARY 23RD, 2014

Cambridge United v Arsenal

After four days of FA Cup fever in the town we finally took the field against Arsenal in front of a capacity crowd at The Abbey Stadium. Darko Bodul came close early on lobbing the Arsenal keeper but the ball landed on the top of the net. DL victor Fernandez hit a powerful effort that struck the side netting and meanwhile Arsenal were restricted to shooting from distance that ended wide of the mark leaving the game scoreless at the interval.” All we need is one goal” was my rallying cry and sure enough Scott Wootten headed in from a corner three minutes after that break. That stunned Arsenal which we took advantage of, pressing forward for the next several minutes and a through ball from Sunny found Conor Newton which his shot beat the Arsenal keeper and it was 2-0. As expected Arsenal layed siege to our goal for most of what remained of the game but a brilliant rear-guard action led by Wootten protected our net and we pulled off a stunning FA Cup victory.

Following the historic win over Arsenal our final game of the month saw a gruelling encounter against East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town at The Abbey Stadium. We faced a strong Ipswich defence that thwarted our chances up until the very end when they pushed up looking for the win which we caught them out twice on the counter attack in the space of four minutes to grab the three points I thought we deserved.

Results Summary

League Table

Incredibly we find ourselves in third palce and only two points behind league leaders Bolton and at this point are very much in the title race. With a cushion of 17 points between us and 7th place we are all but guarenteed at least a play off spot if we show consistency.

Fixtures

We start off next month with back to back games up in Yorkshire before entertaining last seasons League One winners Plymouth at home. Right smack in the middle of the month is our FA Cup Sixth Round clash at home to Birmingham.

Thanks for reading — stay safe and enjoy the weekend.