Cambridge United 0 Charlton Athletic 1
Well, that was exactly what it said on the tin. Very scrappy game on a bobbly pitch with the ball spending most of the time in the air.
It was an ugly game but we stood tall, stayed organized, scored at a good time and scrapped ourselves to an important three points.
A clean sheet win, and once we took the lead it was all about staying defensively solid and not making mistakes. Ramsey, Gillesphey and McIntyre were authoritative, with the Pompey loanee responding really well to last week’s poor game.
The pattern of the what we were to expect from the game soon developed after kick off but an incisive ball from Edwards on 14 minutes found TC who had spun away from his man, and as he cut into the box he scored with with the game’s first shot.
TC, who was limping from an over physical challenge and then got booked when he meted out some revenge, almost scored again with an even better effort from a similar position but it was well saved.
Godden then hit the post, and if we had scored at that point, the game might have been more comfortable. An awkward looking Edwards header passing his own post was the closest the home side came at the break.
The 2nd half dragged into a tense game of attrition, but we carved out the best chances, but needed a little luck as we escaped a couple of goalmouth scrambles.
The subs were all good with Anderson, like McIntyre, showing a much better side of his game. He put in a very commanding close to 40 minutes.
Watson was good after he replaced an out of sorts Small. Chuks did Chuks things and then helping to see out the game was 18-year old Mbick, who is a unit.
A hard fought win in front of a noisy travelling support.
🎙️“Firstly, they’re fighting for their lives. Secondly, they are a Neil Harris side – they will be front-footed and very difficult to beat. And then the conditions were really difficult for a good footballing game. The pitch is dry and bobbly. It’s the slope, there’s wind. Everything that can go against a spectacle is here at the Abbey Stadium.” – Nathan Jones
⭐️ Tom McIntyre
🏟️ 6,707 (1,034 Addicks)
📸 Kyle Andrews
blooming Stockport winning stopped us going 4th
Awful game but happy to take 3 points today
I watched Wigan v Wrexham in the early kick off on Sky. Wigan were the better side and should have won. I was thinking that we can certainly beat Wrexham – but then if they had watched our game v Cambridge they will think the same about us!
If Wrexham stutter, automatic is still not impossible if we win all 4 remaining games.
Wycombe must play Stockport, Orient and Bolton (the latter two both chasing 6th spot). With us winning all four games it means Wrexham would need to win at least two and one draw from their other 3 fixtures (h Bristol Rov, a Blackpool, a Lincoln) and the same would go for Wycombe, but I really don’t think Wycombe could do that.
Today’s game was as CA wrote, devoid of quality, with the ball more often in the air than on the ground and neither side managed to string passes together. The Cambridge plan to continually lump high balls and long balls and hope for a break in our area never looked like working. All our defenders played well and Mannion did not have to make a save.
Small did his defensive work but had a poor game offensively. Everyone else put in a good shift but I give my MoM to Tyreece Campbell despite him only lasting 58′ due to the injury. In a game of precious few moments of quality, he produced two.
One final observation: Mbick came on for the final 4′ plus 5′ injury time. I know I am bound to get some knock back on this one, having seen him just play 9 minutes – but I reckon this lad will be a star. It’s the first time I have seen him but he was much more mobile than Chuks, looks technically better and is also big and strong.
Time will tell if I am right, but sometimes you see a player and just know there is something a bit more special about them
At this stage only thing that matters is the result obviously and a great one it was. The big worry for me though is how reliant we are on TC who now looks unplayable and how devoid of attacking threat we look without him. Praying he’ll be fit and delivering for the next 4 or 7 games.
Cambridge badly needed the points, before kick-off they were are all but relegated but in that last chance saloon where a couple of wins might save them so I expected the kitchen sink to be thrown at us. We were shaky at times defensively but we did what we needed to do. At the other end…a well taken goal but we could/should have added a second to make things more comfortable. You can’t argue though with three points away from home and a clean sheet.
I’m pleased to see Micah Mbick get some time at the end – with no Miles Leaburn or DK and with Chuks only good for cameos off the bench we need another attacking focal point. Last week’s experiment with Karoy Anderson didn’t work and with TC not looking 100% fit we might have to start him in one or two of the next few matches. With autos all but gone it might make sense to rest one or two players ahead of the play-offs.
Speaking of which, we just need three points from here to be certain of a play-off spot.
Pleased but surprised that Mbick was on the bench, as he has only just got back from a very long absence and has only had a couple of cameo appearances in recent U21 games.
The situation with Gilbert seems strange to me, it wouldn’t surprise me if Middlesborough recall him and would he want to stay for the play-offs if not being used on a regular basis.
Does anyone know why Mbick has been out of the reckoning for so long ? ……Injury?
He was injured, Greg. And only recently came back. @rierti will I expect know more detail.
Thanks CA.The last time I actually saw him play was in our cup run last season, and I thought he looked sharp then, so let’s hope he is another product of our academy that can make the step up to first team status.