Cambridge United: November 2010

Greetings from Canada and welcome back to my Cambridge story.

The new month started off with another Manager award which I was well pleased about but really owed it to the great performances the players have put in over the past month.

Our first game of November saw the arrival of Gateshead to The Abbey Stadium and within two minutes we had the visitors scrambling to clear the ball off the line from a header by Traore. Continuous  pressure saw a Gateshead defender put the ball past his own keeper to send us in front and youngster Danny Hoesen was unlucky not to add a second as his effort clipped the inside of the post and rolled harmlessly away. The second half was very uninspiring though we did hit the woodwork again but in the end had to settle for a very laboured 1-0 win.

A big crowd of almost 7,000 showed up as Cup Fever had gripped the town for the past week with the visit of Bristol Rovers for the First Round tie. Rovers started strongly as they looked for an early goal but Scott Wootton defended bravely and Bouzanis pulled of a number of saves in goal. I decided to change my tactic from balanced to rigid and within two minutes of the change a cross by Karl Moore from the left was met by a diving header by Will Hatfield and we were in front. Two minutes later ST Danny Wright won the ball in midfield and his pass caught out the Rovers defence completely and Shane Williams ran forward to meet that pass and his shot neatly beat the keeper. Rovers pulled one back just on the stroke of half time as we got caught too far forward leaving acres of space to create a goal. That goal lifted Rovers and they elevated their game dominating the second period but having replaced the strength of Fofana for the pace of N’Goma was enough to catch Rovers on the counter and Karl Moore added a third goal in the 82nd minute after N’Goma had sped away on his own to create the decisive winning goal and a memorable victory.

In interesting piece of media news saw the sacking of Dean Saunders from Welsh side Wrexham!!

After the excitement of the FA Cup was over it was back to the business of the BSP with a trip to Kettering. The home side were less than productive allowing us several opportunities  particularly from the head of Scott Wootton who was unlucky not have scored a hat trick but it was a pass by Tawton which Danny Wright squeezed past the keeper the give us the lead going into the interval. A far less impressive second half saw the cross bar save us from throwing away three points and in the end the one goal proved enough for the away win.

Next up was the visit of Hayes and Yeading to The Abbey Stadium which turned out to be one of those matches that fall under the bore draw category except for Muatapha Traore breaking the deadlock with a headed in corner just before half time to at least give the home fans something to cheer about.

The following game was away to Southport and in front of just 800 fans. Scott Wootton headed us into the lead after just five minutes from a Karl Moore corner. Will Hatfield had a “hat-full” of chances throughout the first half put couldn’t put any of them away even from close range so we relied on the Wootton / Moore partnership to extend the lead early in the second half with another headed in goal this time from a free kick. RB Nicki Ahemd gave away a silly penalty to allow Southport a way back into the game but they couldn’t build on it and we ran out comfortable winners in the end.

It was time for our FA Cup second round tie away to Chesterfield and we got off to a dream start as Wootton headed in a goal inside two minutes from a Moore free kick. MC Shane Williams had an excellent chance to double the lead five minutes later after intercepting a pass but his shot went agonizingly wide in a one on one with the Chesterfield keeper. It was up to Scott Wootten to provide our second goal of the game this time from a corner but some statue like defending minutes later allowed the home side an easy goal going into the break. Chesterfield were keen to tie the game up early in the second half but we held firm and then extended our lead after Dorian N’Goma turned the ball into the net after the home side failed to clear a corner kick. We were so busy celebrating that we allowed a goal almost immediately which therefore made for a very tense finish with all the action at our end. Somehow we managed to hang on and are through to the third round where we will meet Derby County at Pride Park.

Results Summary

Thanks to Scott Wootten we ‘ve had another unbeaten month but there’s some concern over the lack of effort and contribution of my strikers who for the most part have disappeared off the scene and put in some very lazy performances.

League Table

Ther’s not much change in the title race. We are still top with Newport right on our tails but we are both beginning to pull away from the chasing pack.

Fixtures

Well that’s it for this post other than to say we have to play Histon yet again this time in the FA Trophy which will make the fourth time this season.

On a personal note I should probably get on and do my 2010 Tax Returns for Revenue Canada which everyone here is requried to do and file either electornically or like myself  «old school» by paper and through the mail. Not my favorite chore of the year!