Cambridge United hosted league leaders Doncaster and were coming in off the back of their first back to back wins this year. Buoyed by this and the fact Doncaster hadn’t managed a win in five games, Cambridge fancied their chances and despite the weather the fans were out and making noise. Williamson returned to the side in place of McDonagh, and player of the month Dunne came back into centre midfield. From the off you could see Berry was sitting in advance of the midfield two, a step away from Derry’s usual 4-1-4-1 formation, making it more of a 4-2-3-1, perhaps in an attempt offer support to Williamson who is still lacking goals.
Cambridge were well and truly up for this game and early on after some tidy passing down the right hand flank, Taylor put a ball into the box. Williamson rose well for it but could only glance the header under little pressure and it flew harmlessly wide. Williamson then got a chance to run at goal, chasing a ball well and being bought down in the box by the keeper. The penalty was harsh, the keeper made solid contact before the player with his hands and probably won the ball but you play to the whistle and Berry put ball down on the spot. Berry had missed his last 2 penalties and had missed 3 on the bounce and perhaps that played on Berry’s mind as he seemed to try too hard, high and wide. A huge blow to Cambridge early on and it seemed to knock them for six a bit as Doncaster really came into the game.
Doncaster started to string together some passes, where as Cambridge were beginning to play it long which didn’t suit the 11 out there, when Berry got the ball at his feet or a header that wasn’t dropping from a height Cambridge began to tick but those moments were few and far between. Within ten minutes of the penalty miss Cambridge were one down, some nice passing accross the box, Doncaster clearly not flustered or rushed, Tommy Rowe got it on the inside left, sold a weak dummy on Taylor, hit the ball through a crowd of weak Cambridge blocks and between Norris’ legs. The goal was weak but you could argue Norris was unsighted by the defenders.
The pressure was now well and truly on the U’s and Norris was called into action minutes later, making a decent save followed by a great reaction save follow up to force a corner. From the resulting corner Doncaster doubled their league, a short corner played across the box was tapped in at the near post, the defending so far from the U’s had left a lot to be desired, Doncaster with a diminutive front line for this level were causing Legge and Roberts problems keeping the ball down and moving it quickly, as the first half went on the U’s were looking less and less like promotion contenders as much as Doncaster were looking like winners in waiting.
Cambridge continued to press but weren’t getting much in the way of chances, Marris had an effort from range that proved no worries for Doncaster before he had probably the best chance since the penalty for Cambridge. After some good work on the right, Williamson got a cross off and Marris hit a volleyed effort which bought out a great save from the Doncaster stopper, but that was your lot for the first half and it left a lot to be desired for the U’s.
The second half got underway and Doncaster almost played as if this was job done, they made life hard for the U’s without ever really exerting themselves. The U’s were struggling to create anything, the ball was still in the air on the whole however once they got it down they were stringing together some nice moves, unfortunately after a 20 or so passing move the ball came to Taylor who lost it and forced Norris to make a dash forward to clear. The defence hadn’t been having a good day so far.
A chance was made and Dunne came off for McDonagh and Cambridge changed to a diamond formation. O’Neil seemed to perform much better when just concentrating on defending, McDonagh gave Cambridge some size and strength up top for Berry and Williamson to play off. The pressure was building with McDonagh doing well to bring players into the game but once again the defence let the U’s down. Legge made a mistake at the back and chased then hauled the Doncaster man down, he was booked for his troubles and Doncaster didn’t make the same mistake Cambridge did from the spot. Marquis picking out the bottom corner whilst Norris barely had a chance to react.
Elito was now on and playing in a fluid front three with Berry and McDonagh but the U’s fans had fallen silent and the atmosphere was beginning to turn a bit, with some dissent being shown by the Habbin end. With the game seemingly dead Cambridge seemed to come to life, Marris who had been the danger man for Cambridge all game went on a marauding run from deep. Doncaster were willing to give him space as he was plenty far from goal but that didn’t put Marris off who unleashed a 30 yard shot than kissed the bar on the way in, an absolute belter from the midfield man and the U’s were back to life again.
With the fans back behind them the U’s pressed on, a few minutes after the goal Doncaster had a spell but after that was all Cambridge, McDonagh showing some brilliant footwork to round the keeper and have his chance denied by a defender on the line, that wasn’t enough and he hadn’t given up, minutes later he lobbed the keeper with a deft chip only once again for some great defending to block his effort. The U’s weren’t done and the second minute of the four added on Berry rose well to head home and get back to back goals. Two minutes left to ball and the crowd were raucous now and the U’s reacted well, if they showed this spirit for 90 minutes then they would be hard to beat by any side. A last chance, a cross in, a scramble and it comes off Berry, the crowd got ready but the ball was in the oppositions keepers hands.
The league leaders won this one by three goals to two, but Cambridge can take some positives from this. There were spells when they looked by far the better side, unfortunately the spells where the opposition were on top Cambridge looked below par and seemed to shot themselves in the foot. If Derry want’s to play the way he is playing then he can’t do so with Williamson up top on his own, he isn’t a target man and that is no fault of his own, with Uche and Corr out, it is up to Derry to work out what to do next and if I was the manager I would play with the diamond like formation they finished the game with. It was almost a famous come back on a night where the skies and goals both rained down, it’s just a shame Cambridge took so long to come to life.
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Published by Matthew Robinson