Cambridge United beat Lincoln City by one goal last night in the Conference Premier to end a three match winning run. 1,978 fans turn out at the Bank last night in the rain to see what they hoped would be an unthinkable fourth win in a row. 171 of these fans made the trip from Cambridge in hope that their side would win their first game in five and keep alive the narrow chance that they have to make a late break into the play-offs.
Lincoln lined up for this game in their now familiar 4-4-2 formation, Nicolau came in for the injured Bore, this change saw Sheridan switch to the right side of midfield. Jamie Taylor who impressed as a substitute was handed a start along side Jefferson Louis. Laurent returned to the bench which was composed of three wingers a goal keeper and centre back Karlton Watson.
The game started in light rain and with Lincoln attacking towards the Bridge McFarlane stand. Linconl started the brighter with the first effort of the game coming from Sheridan, his effort was a comfortable save for Cambridge goal keeper Naisbitt. the game ebbed and flowed with little real goal mouth action, Tom Millers long throws always looked to cause a threat to the Cambridge defence. It was one of his throws that lead to a penalty appeal by the Imps, his throw was only cleared to Nicolau who fired the ball back in, seemingly off a Cambridge arm, but referee Jeremy Simpson was unmoved and the game played on.
The Imps then had a Josh Gowling goal ruled out for offside, this came after Sheridan had a shot saved and palmed into the defenders path. celebrations were cut short as the linesman’s flag had already gone up before Gowling had touched the ball into the net. It took nearly the whole of the first half before the first corner was awarded, to Cambridge. the corner was cleared off the line at the far post by Robson to keep the scores as they started when the half time whistle blew.
As the sides re-emerged into the April rain Cambridge made the first change of the match with Hudson replacing Wylde in defence. It was Cambridge who imposed themselves as the side more likely to break the dead lock and that occurred after only three minutes. Tom Shaw finished off a great run by Pell from the half way line by finishing past Anyon twelve yards from goal.
The Imps looked to get a quick reply through Taylor, but his effort was blocked before getting near the goal. Holdsworth then decided to make two changes in search of the equalising goal. Taylor and Nicolau were replaced by wingers Laurent and Lloyd. Sadly Laurent didn’t seem to have a clue where he was meant to be playing and as such he seemed to run around all over the pitch, limiting the effectiveness I felt he would of had, had he played in his natural position as a wide man.
The Imps provided some pressure, once again mainly from long throws by Miller. Miller for me has been the best signing under Holdsworth, despite this being only his fourth game he has shown his defence abilities superbly. He reads the game well and I can’t think of one missed interception or tackle. He also shows excellent composure and so far has been unflappable with the ball at his feet even when under pressure. If he can remain injury free I would love for him to be here next season as both he and Gowling seem to have a good understanding at the back and have made our defence stronger and much calmer.
As the game wore on it looked increasingly likely that the Imps wouldn’t be able to get the crucial equalising goal, Louis had a very poor second half and nearly every ball played to him was is controlled or simply bounced away off him to a Cambridge player. as such I was both surprised and annoyed that he remained on the pitch when Rodney came off the bench, instead it was Sheridan who made way with just over ten minutes to play.
Sadly in those final ten minutes I cant remember the Imps forcing a save from the opposing keeper. This despite large amounts of possession in the attacking third. Gowling did clip the top of the bar with a header from a Power corner. Power then had the last chance of the match, but his left footed effort from the edge of the box was palmed away. The final score was 1-0 to Cambridge.
It was difficult to say that Lincoln deserved to lose this game, I felt a draw was a fairer reflection of the game, but sadly we never really looked like scoring. Louis was very poor ad a lack of an other centre forward on the bench did baffle me, unless both Pacquette and McCammon are injured, which I will be honest and say I am unsure about.
We looked, like we have done since Miller came in a lot stronger and organised at the back, no more embarrassing mistakes are being made and I always feel a side should build from the back, we just need to start scoring goals and for me that comes from far better service, which was disappointing last night from the wide areas in particular.
A narrow defeat it was, but it wasn’t a step back in my opinion, there were positives to take out of the game, we weren’t bossed by a higher placed team, we just lacked that cutting edge, creativity and bit of luck to get an equalising goal. I am not downhearted after this game, nine points form the last four games is a great turn around.
But we have two games in quick succession this weekend. If we can pick up points in both of those games then we should be able to put this season behind us and plan on building a side able to challenge in the top half of the league next year. I honestly don’t think we are far off that, only a few new faces should be needed, I just hope Holdsworth doesn’t go mad and sign another 30 players and set the development back to the level we were at when he came in.
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