A big well done to the dedicated Cambridge groundstaff for getting the pitch fit for the match and an excellent gesture by the sponsors to give the MOM to the ground staff. I have said a few times in the past that the Abbey has one of the best and fastest draining surfaces in L2 but even so, it was a winter pitch that suited some players more than others.
Nathan obviously thought that Olly was in a better position to cope than Shinnie and also decided to give D’Ath a game in midfield. Unfortunately for D’Ath he picked up another injury after about 20 minutes and had to be replaced by Gambin. I must admit my first thought would have been to bolster the centre-backs/midfield and move Rea forward but as Lloyd Jones had not even been picked as a sub, it was probably too early in the game to risk bringing Cuthbert on. Really we looked a touch overrun in that first 10 minutes and against a more effective set of strikers we may well have gone behind. However, we managed to get past that awkward opening and put some moves together including one in which Collins did really well (as you can see on the video) to stretch and divert a cleared shot into the net. We looked in control for the first 15 minutes of the second half: Potts also had a decent chance from a header that he put wide of the post. Collins should have notched a second as he tried to connect with a splendid cross from Hylton; this guy Hylton is just so important to us, streets more flair and ball control than any other striker we have on the books. For the last half hour of the game, it was almost one-way traffic with Cambridge lumping ball after ball high into the Luton area: whoever would have expected that! I have to say of left side of the defence looked terribly exposed. Collins already on a yellow decides to give the referee an opportunity to give him a second yellow and the one-way traffic simply became heavier with Cambridge so surprisingly scoring with a virtually unopposed header. A point won or two points dropped? Well in my view, most definitely a vital point won against a Cambridge side of typical L2 battling muscle. After the Collins dismissal, if there was going to be a winner than that would have been Cambridge; thankfully, we held on for a point. Had the Cambridge crosses been more accurate and a couple of the Cambridge strikers been a touch better, we could easily have come away empty handed. Could we have done better? Well in respect of Lloyd Jones; he is such a giant of a lad but maybe he is just not good enough for consideration against another team of big guys; who knows? I do think that we could have set midfield out to be more competitive against a battling Cambridge side. I reckon our Olly is a terrific midfield passer of the ball from August to October and then into April and May but on a winters pitch against a team of battlers, we are virtually a man short. Seriously I am an Olly fan given the right seasonal conditions and when gifted acres of space offered by the opposition; simply pick your games to get the best out of him. On the other hand, Gambin battled all afternoon and is surely worth more game time at the moment. As I say, definitely a good point especially after going down to 10 men.
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Hi there, welcome to my site where I chronicle various things about the Hatters, a team I have followed since the mid 60’sArchives
December 2017
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