With 19 year-old Ashan Holgate, a loan
signing from Swindon Town, making his
County debut in midfield alongside
Nathan Davies, we were bright starters
yet again with the dreadlocked Ruud
Gullit lookalike showing up brightly in
the early stages.
It was no more than we deserved when a
superb break down the left set up the
opening goal. Damon Searle, never one
to mind getting hurt in a good cause,
won a crunching challenge to set up
Richard Evans who outpaced Craig Pope
and crossed for Craig Hughes to head
home his ninth goal of the season.
Guppy is the most natural finisher the
club has had since the days of Carl Dale
and he was again close in the 17th
minute after good support play from his
strike partner Julian Alsop.
Mark Ovendale had to be on his toes to
keep out a couple of efforts from Darren
Lynch but the manner of Cambridge’s
equaliser on 22 minutes was unfortunate.
Neil Midgley must have been embarrassed
to be credited with the goal by both the
match announcer and Sunday’s Non League
Paper but he will surely donate any goal
bonus to Searle, because the home
forward’s ball across the face of the
goal was not going goalwards until the
County full-back stumbled on it and
turned it into his own net.
Ben Bowditch will certainly not be shy
about claiming any reward for the second
Cambridge goal three minutes later
because it was a screamer of a free-kick
from 30 yards into the top corner of the
net, though Ovendale might question the
setting-up of the wall and his own
positioning.
That was virtually the last we saw of
Cambridge as an attacking force and the
second half was one of steady County
possession with the game punctuated by
frequent visits to the pitch by the home
physio as City players took it in turns
to take a breather whenever County
mounted a head of steam.
And whenever the ball was booted out of
the small stadium surrounds it seemed to
take an age for the home bench to supply
a replacement, though referee Stephen
Ross was fair in his timekeeping and
added six minutes in the second half.
The corner count was 8-1 in our favour
in that second period, but Jason Bowen,
usually so sure in his delivery, had an
off day and few of the set pieces
troubled Danny Naisbitt in the home
goal.
Searle limped off after a heavy
challenge early in the second half
enabling Paul Cochlin to have an
extended spell on the filed as a
one-for-one replacement and Peter Beadle
threw caution to the considerable
Cambridgeshire breeze by sending on Sam
O’Sullivan and Matt Green for a late
onslaught.
Bowen missed our best chance in the 80th
minute and John Brough was unfortunate
to see a powerful 94th minute header
safely clutched by Naisbitt.
You just felt that County were destined
not to score once Cambridge had their
noses in front and regretted our failure
to capitalise when we looked so much
better than the home side in those
opening minutes.
Cambridge: Naisbett, Pope, Blanchett
(Coe 64), Chaffey, Fuff, Bowditch,
Sinclair, Lincoln, Lynch (Roache 75),
Midgley, Radcliffe. Subs not used:
Baillie, Reed, Mooniaruck.
Scorers: Searle (22og), Bowditch (25).
Cautions: Lynch (53), Bowditch (56);
both unsporting behaviour.
County: Ovendale, Hillier, Searle (Cochlin
54), Davies, Brough, Butler (Green 81),
Bowen, Holgate, Alsop, Hughes, Evans
(O’Sullivan 81). Subs not used: Blake,
Blackburn.
Scorer: Hughes (7).
Cautions: Bowen (49, delaying restart),
Holgate (52, unsporting behaviour).
Attendance: 416.
Referee: Stephen Ross (Boston).
