Us 2-1 Gateshead: Yes, we are entertained. Andrew Bennetts match report:- I hadnt a dream last night. I dreamt that national and local television forgot that we existed. I dreamt that our team kept losing to part-time teams from places of which we had never heard (and Histon). I dreamt that our club was being run by spivs and incompetents. I dreamt that we stopped receiving any money to fund our youth scheme. I dreamt that the club we love was slowly dying. Then I remembered that we beat Gateshead yesterday at Wembley to regain our rightful place in the Football League. The nightmare is over. The Conference era (2005-14) of Skrills and Blue Squares is over. Non-League Day is cancelled! The portents were good on Sunday. Arsenal, who last won a trophy when United were relegated in 2005, had won the FA Cup the previous day and the train to King’s Cross passed their ground where a celebratory parade was in progress; we ignored the fact that they beat a team wearing amber and black in the final. Gateshead were unbeaten in their last 14 games, but we already knew that current form meant nothing after United’s defeat of Halifax following four consecutive goalless defeats. Anyway, ask Michael Gash, who was so eager to jump ship from the Abbey to in-form Kidderminster as they headed for play-off glory last season; enjoy Dover and Altrincham next term, eh? London was awash with black and amber, just as it was only a few weeks earlier, and the sheer variety of United shirts, going right back to the Lynfox days of the 1980s plus a smattering of retro replicas of even earlier models, was a sight to behold. Old friends met up, new friends were made, all was smiles and celebration. There was still a knot of apprehension in the stomach at the memory of United’s last two play-off finals, the second of which was particularly hard to take, but somehow this time felt different. And that was primarily down to Richard Money, an unpredictable and sometimes difficult chap, but when it comes down to getting it right for the vital matches, you would entrust him with your life. What a phenomenal appointment he has been. The attendance of 19,613 was well down on those play-off finals of 2008 and 2009, with most of one side of Wembley almost entirely empty (coincidentally the one on which the main TV cameras were based), but the hairs on the back of the neck still stood to attention when the National Anthem blared out and was replaced by an expectant roar from both sets of supporters. The whole of this momentous season boiled down to the next 90 minutes; it was classic hot, sunburnt cup final weather. Let’s do this. Gateshead selected the same starting side which defeated the U’s 2-0 less than a month ago, but Money, full of unreadable ideas as usual, replaced Harrison Dunk with Liam Hughes and employed him as a third centre-back in a 3-5-2 formation to counteract the Heed’s expansive close passing game. After all, he had experimented with it in those “wasted” games near the end of the regular season. United line-up: Smith; Hughes, Miller, Coulson; Roberts, Berry, Donaldson, Champion, Taylor; Elliott, Sam-Yorke On the bench: Bonner, Chadwick, Chambers, Dunk, Cunnington Gateshead defended the half of the pitch that was in shade in the first half, and United made a positive start, dominating territorially for the first quarter of an hour. They had a very good chance within two minutes of the start when Donaldson, deployed in his best position just behind the strikers, arrived at the edge of the box to lash a powerful shot goalward which was well parried away by Adam Bartlett, who was of course United’s keeper in the 2009 play-off final against Exeter when Danny Potter was injured, his one and only game in U’s colours. There was an early first booking on 6 when Marcus Maddison fell theatrically to the ground when tackled by Luke Berry and was deservedly booked by ref Bankes for simulation, or cheating as it is know in the big wide world. Four minutes later Donaldson’s corner from the right found the head of Berry, whose aerial prowess has improved so dramatically this season, but he could only get a glancing nod on it and it sailed off for a throw-in. The pattern of the match soon emerged. United maintained a solid middle five, intended to stifle their opponents, but it did mean that the front two were somewhat isolated and had to feed on some rather inadequate scraps of hopeful long balls. Gateshead employed their usual close passing game, using the full width of the pitch, but by fielding only one out-and-out striker, James Marwood, they had very little to offer up front and were restricted to long shots, all of their crosses comfortably dealt with by a United back four that has performed so admirably since the start of term. The only concern was that Kevin Roberts, a fine defender, looked rather out of his comfort zone as a wing-back and the Heed began to find space down their left. Marwood thumped a hopeful long shot wide on 14 and while by now his side was enjoying rather more of the possession, they were failing to trouble Adam Smith in the United goal in any way. Marwood’s ambitious volley sailed over the top on 17, then Berry got a shot in for the U’s but straight at Bartlett. Tom Champion was then rather harshly booked for a robust challenge on Maddison, followed on 23 by John Oster, who had two goes at Donaldson in the space of a few seconds. A minute later came the first moment of real controversy as Maddison clattered Donaldson in a clumsy late tackle which would surely have resulted in a booking had he not seen yellow already. In the end a bookable foul is a bookable foul, whether the player has previously been carded or not, but Mr Banks applied that mysterious unwritten rule and let him off with a brief lecture. Lucky boy. Another hopeful long ranger from Jamie Chandler on 27 was comfortably gathered by the commanding Smith, and another reckless challenge by Maddison after a short corner misfired went unpunished. The rest of the half passed with very little incident, bar an unconvincing penalty shout from Marwood under challenge from Ian Miller, as Gateshead stroked it about in the parts of the pitch where they could not do United any damage, while the U’s contained them and conserved their energy while attempting to catch them on the break, with little success. Half-time arrived with the game in a stalemate. Money is a master of timely substitutions and he recognised that something had to change in the second half. He pulled off Delano Sam-Yorke, who had been very poorly served as a rather lonely target man, and introduced Harrison Dunk, changing to a 4-4-2 with Hughes and Dunk wide and Donaldson pushed up just behind Elliott. Dunk, who was enjoying his best season at the Abbey until struck down by injury in February, made an immediate impression with his direct, pacy running and intelligent passing, and after Marwood had fired straight at Smith on 48, he had Bartlett worried with an unexpected shot from 30 yards which the keeper had to turn around his post. Two corners later United were ahead on 51. Normally short corners are abject failures – I call them Satan’s Set Piece – but this time it worked a treat as Donaldson played a give-and-go with Dunk then arced a wicked looping cross over Bartlett’s head for Liam Hughes to rampage in behind and ram home a header from almost under the crossbar. Bedlam: 1-0! The tactical change had worked a treat, and Heed boss Gary Mills made a double substitution on 57, withdrawing Maddison and Colin Larkin for hulking target man Liam Hatch and Luton loanee JJ O’Donnell. Purist football is all very well, but sometimes you need to bring on the big bloke to get on the end of a few crosses. Slowly but surely United began to become pressed back into their own half. Conversely, they now looked more dangerous on the break and a tremendous run from Elliott on the hour saw him beat three opponents before trundling a disappointingly underhit shot to Bartlett. Money introduced the fresh legs and calm head of Luke Chadwick for Berry on 65, Oster blasted high and wide, then came Gateshead’s last throw of the dice as they withdrew Chandler in favour of Jack Lester, the 38-year-old veteran goal poacher, persuaded to come out of retirement in February to play on a non-contract basis. Another promising break on 71 saw Dunk send Donaldson away down the middle, and when he knocked the ball past Ben Clark, he was cynically brought to the floor; Clark was lucky to see only yellow. He received a far greater punishment from the free-kick, however. Hughes and Donaldson stood over the ball 25 yards out, and it was the latter who stepped up and, just like Santi Cazorla the previous day, curled a magnificent free-kick over the wall and into the right-hand side of the net. What a big match player: 2-0! The teams continued to take pot-shots from outside the box, Dunk’s chip gathered by Bartlett and Carl Magnay’s shot failing to escape Smith’s gloves, and on 76 Money’s last change saw the exhausted Elliott replaced by Adam Cunnington, a master of hold-up play. United seemed set to cruise smoothly into the Football League, but this club just doesn’t do things that way. Gateshead’s more direct approach finally paid off ten minutes from time as Marwood’s left-wing cross found the head of Hatch, his header was superbly saved by a diving Smith, but wily old fox Lester was in the right place to ram home the rebound. 2-1. The Heed supporters found their voices again, and their team began to rain crosses into the box. Unfortunately for them, this U’s defence has been dealing comfortably with such tactics all season, the positioning and aerial prowess of Miller and Coulson easily the best in the division. But United were now pushed so deep that every time they cleared the ball, if they could not find Cunnington, it would just come straight back again. They did manage one good break on 86, Cunnington sending Chadwick on a lung-bursting run down to the right, and his diagonal cross from the byline found Dunk just outside the box, but his powerful shot cannoned off the defender in front of him. Gateshead displayed a tendency to over-elaborate in the box, trying one more pass, then another, then another when a shot might have been a better idea, but disaster struck United three minutes from time when Miller went down awkwardly in stretching for the ball and lay in agony for far too long before the referee finally stopped play, It was quickly apparent that that the skipper’s injury was a serious one – a ruptured Achilles tendon that will keep him out until 2015 – and while he was treated, the officials indicated seven added minutes to be played; but that only applied once play had restarted, some three minutes after the 90 has passed. Miller was eventually stretchered off and Tom Champion dropped back to replace him as the ten men braced themselves for ten minutes of The Alamo. The whole season had boiled down to this. The tension was unbearable as, without a clock on the electronic boards at each end, the United fans could only will time to move on. Gateshead abandoned any thoughts of tactical sophistication as they threw cross after cross into the crowded United box in front of the baying Geordie hordes. Phil Turnbull’s shot was blocked by an heroic Josh Coulson, then Oster crossed and found the head of Hatch, but he could not find the target and held that head in despair. And strangely enough, the Miller injury had worked in some part to United’s advantage, disrupting Gateshead’s rhythm and momentum, and many of their crosses were now drifting out of play, overhit or just miscued in their urgent desperation. It would only take one pinpoint cross to change the game, though, and even the most optimistic U’s supporter might have struggled to see the positives in playing an extra half an hour with a man short in the early summer heat. But United’s doughty defence just kept on repelling boarders, and valuable time was taken up by Cunnington, shielding the ball and laying it off, although he was harshly booked after one tussle. The Chance came in the 98th minute. James Baxter crossed from deep and left-back James Curtis, Gateshead’s longest serving player and now a makeshift extra striker, got his head to it…and flicked it a few feet wide of the far post. The collective sigh of relief from the amber hordes would have inflated a good-sized barrage balloon. After ten long, nerve-wracking minutes of injury time, the referee’s whistle finally sounded for the last time on Cambridge United as a non-League club to trigger scenes of wild celebration from United players, officials and supporters alike. Grown men were hugging each other and crying – I should know, I was one of them – and all around, no-one could keep joyous, ecstatic grins off their faces as they acclaimed their heroes and the end of nine years’ exile from the club’s rightful place in the Football League. You could see it mean a lot particularly to boyhood United supporters Coulson and Chadwick, who had come to the club specifically for just this purpose, and they shared their joy with the crowd. Eventually the every-modest Money almost shyly approached the supporters to applaud then bow, and he received the rapturous reception that the mastermind of United’s triumphant season deserved. After traipsing up the steps to receive their second Wembley trophy in five weeks, they reconvened for more celebrations on the pitch and this time they were joined by Miller in a wheelchair, insisting on joining the fun against medical advice, Jez George, whose tireless, eloquent efforts for the club are without parallel, and Dave Doggett, such an inspirational figurehead and a fitting successor to that most committed and passionate chairman who passed away so recently, Reg Smart. And to cap it all, “I’ve Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts” rang out from the loudspeakers, lustily taken up by the cavorting hordes. Eventually we trailed away, still celebrating in our heads, feeling that curious mixture of simultaneous enervation and elation that only occasions such as this can provoke. The winning 16-man squad included ten players recruited by Money, whose record in the transfer market is outstanding, and now no-one can doubt the man’s ability to deliver success, his tactical and motivational prowess having proved second to none. And let us not forget those loan signings who made such a vital contribution to this phenomenal season, Chris Maxwell, Kwesi Appiah and Ryan Bird. It has been a long, long nine years, starting with the despair of administration and demotion and the club’s rescue by the likes of Richard Caborn and Nick Pomery. In that time I have seen the team lose at Grays, Farsley, Hyde, Dorchester, Weymouth, Northwich, Histon, Forest Green, Altrincham, Gateshead, Bath, Braintree and Hayes & Yeading, and go down at home to St Albans, Stafford, Eastbourne, Alfreton, Tamworth, Dartford, Wealdstone and Nuneaton. Now that is the definition of long-suffering. And all in a league which gives the impression that it is run from a shed in somebody’s back garden whose most sophisticated technology is an abacus with half the beads missing. There were good times; Rob Newman did a great job in building a team from literally nothing, Jimmy Quinn and Gary Brabin both brought us a good share of glory before falling at the final hurdle, and who can ever forget that win at Aldershot in 2007 or pleasant welcomes at places like Lewes and Droylsden. There have been a fair number of villains and failures at the Abbey in that time, but let us not dwell on them now. They are history. Let us remember great names like Hatswell, Peters, Simpson, Potter, Rendell, Albrighton, Holroyd, Pitt, Crow, Morrison, Gleeson, Carden, Tonkin, Duncan; fill in your own favourite. Now a whole generation of young supporters will be able to enjoy League football at the Abbey for the first time, and that can only be good for the future of this great club. It has been a long, hard road, but as the saying goes, what does not kill you makes you stronger, and we return to the Football League a happier, stronger club than when we left it, with an army of dedicated unsung heroes working tirelessly behind the scenes. And how apposite that we should pass Torquay, who denied us in 2009, on their way back down, while the team they beat in their play-off semi-final, Histon, fall further back towards their natural level. Goodbye FA Trophy, hello League Cup and, er, the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. Those who do not understand football sometimes ask us why we supporters put up with so much underachievement, mediocrity and downright misery. The answer came today: all that suffering will eventually receive its reward, and in fact it makes the glory and success all the more sweet when it is achieved. This is what makes football so great. This is why we love Cambridge United. That is why this club will always prevail. We are Cambridge United, and we play in the Football League. Peterborough, we’re coming for you...! Statto Corner How about some nice lists to round off nine years in the Conference? All stats refer to league games only, unless otherwise stated. Managers: Average points per game 1.87: Gary Brabin 1.63: Jimmy Quinn 1.60: Richard Money 1.33: Jez George 1.27: Martin Ling 1.17: Rob Newman Gary Brabin is second on the all-time United managers’ list behind Gerald Williams, who was in charge for only 5 games at the start of the 1955-56 season. Top overall goalscorers 30: Scott Rendell 22: Luke Berry, Danny Crow, Michael Gash, Chris Holroyd 19: Robbie WIllmott 18: Tom Elliott 17: Robbie Simpson 13: Andy Pugh, Tom Shaw Top scorers in one season 19: Danny Crow (2009-10) 17: Scott Rendell (2007-08), Robbie Simpson (2006-07) 15: Tom Elliott (2012-13) 13: Michael Gash (2012-13), Scott Rendell (2008-09) Red cards United: 40 Opposition: 59 Most red cards 4: James Jennings 2: Paul Crichton, Ben Farrell, Richie Hanlon, Dave Partridge, Brian Saah Attendances Largest home: 7,125 (vs Histon, 2007-08) Smallest home: 1,635 (vs Darlington, 2010-11) Largest away: 7,517 (vs Luton, 2013-14) Smallest away: 336 (vs Hayes & Yeading, 2011-12) Largest attendances in any competition 42,511 (vs Exeter at Wembley, 2007-08) 35,089 (vs Torquay at Wembley, 2008-09) 19,613 (vs Gateshead at Wembley, 2013-14) 18,120 (vs Gosport at Wembley, 2013-14) 15,340 (vs Wolves, FA Cup 2007-08) Penalties Scored: 46 Missed: 17 Top penalty scorers 7: Chris Holroyd 5: Danny Crow Penalties conceded Converted: 37 Saved/missed: 15 Live TV matches Appearances 1992-2005: 7 (Won 0, drew 3, lost 4) Appearances 2005-2014: 38 (Won 14, drew 12, lost 12) Most appearances (starts/subs) 186 (10): Josh Coulson 138 (1): Dan Gleeson 134 (22): Courtney Pitt 122 (18): Rory McAuley 120 (8): Kevin Roberts 119: Paul Carden 116: Danny Potter 108 (19): Luke Berry 106 (2): Michael Morrison 100 (1): James Jennings 99 (28): Robbie Willmott 91 (3): Rob Wolleaston 85: Wayne Hatswell 78 (38): Liam Hughes 78 (12): Mark Peters 75 (10): Harrison Dunk 74 (3): Rossi Jarvis 73 (6): Tom Shaw 71 (2): Brian Saah 66 (17): Michael Gash Most obscure player The following all made just one league appearance, as a substitute: Ashley Corker (2011-12) Courtney Herbert (2010-11) Dave Lawrence (2006-07) Bobby-Joe Taylor (2012-13) The first team The team which played in United’s opening game in the Conference, a 1-0 defeat to a Scott Rendell goal at Forest Green on 13th August 2005, was: Darren Behcet, Dan Gleeson, David Chick, Mark Peters, Andy Duncan, Stephen Smith, Darren Quinton, David Bridges, Fola Onibuje, John Turner, Mark Angel, subs Rob Duffy, Parys Okai (RIP) and Dave Daniels. Player Ratings Smith 8. Immaculate handling throughout, one world-class save from Hatch. Needs to work on his kicking. Roberts 8. Looked uncomfortable at wing-back, better second half. Coulson 10. Perfect performance to cap a perfect season. Miller 9. Captain Fantastic was as immaculate as ever until he succumbed to injury. Taylor 9. Fine effort from Mr Consistent. Hughes 9. As gutsy and vital as ever, Hughesy bleeds black and amber. Berry 8. Good end to a great season. Champion 9. Over the season, United’s most important and irreplaceable player, bar none. Donaldson 9. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. The club’s no.1 big match player. Elliott 8. Put himself about to the point of exhaustion. Sam-Yorke 7. Never given the service he needed or deserved. Dunk 9. Transformed the side going forward with his usual exciting directness. Chadwick 8. Calm head when it was needed. Welcome home, Luke. Cunnington 8. Magnificent hold-up play near the end. Match Summary Nine year of hurt were swept away on a glorious, unforgettable, sunny day at Wembley, when United produced a performance that exemplified a courageous, gutsy season which has yielded its ultimate reward. Man of the Match Josh Coulson. Our local boy has become a man this year and his celebrations at the end were a joy to behold. Ref Watch Bankes 7. A little lenient on certain Gateshead players in the first half, and should have stopped play earlier when Miller was injured, otherwise a creditable performance. Soundtrack of the Day Coconuts. What else?
Posted on: Mon, 19 May 2014 21:06:45 +0000
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