Unable To Close It Out

It doesn’t matter how poor we were in the first half, or who deserved what, when you have a two-goal lead at home with three minutes of normal time left on the clock (it proved to be 11 before the final whistle) and looking reasonably comfortable you can’t but feel gutted not to take all three points. And we really, really needed all three. Taking a step back, you have to give Cambridge some credit; they threw caution to the wind, didn’t give up, and got something out of the game to reward a decent travelling contingent. That’s no comfort at all for us.

Steve Brown got it spot on again in commentary early in the game. It was clear that Cambridge had a height advantage and were causing all sorts of problems from set pieces. We were keeping them out with some scrambled defending and desperate blocks. He stressed then that we could not afford to switch off once, not once, from any set piece. We finally did and their guy read the flight, made his move, and ended up with a free header from close range. The replays seemed to point to Thomas perhaps the culprit as from a central position he failed to adjust or get off the ground. And just when we thought we could in any event see it out, Edun put in what looked like a tired challenge and brought down their guy. The fact that replays showed VAR would have ensured the ref only gave a free kick on the edge of the box, the contact having been made outside, only added insult to injury.

The team did contain surprises. Jones it seems is out for a few weeks and Thomas came in to replace him, alongside Hector, with Watson(T) and Edun the full backs. Dobson and Fraser took two of the midfield spots, with McGrandles and Taylor still out of the picture, but seemingly out of nowhere Campbell(C) made the starting X1. And May and Blackett-Taylor were joined by Rylah making his full debut having featured against Reading, ahead of Campbell(T). On the bench there was no sign of Ness, that spot taken by the returning loanee Elerewe, while the options up front were Kanu and Mbick, with Tedic missing out.

All you can say about the first half was that we stank outside our box but managed to keep a clean sheet. The front three weren’t in the game (we had almost reached the break before a serious attempt on their goal, May shooting over from the left side), and there was no midfield control. Whether it was the front three not making themselves available or the midfield three not doing enough was hard to tell, probably both. Defensively we were getting caught out sometimes down both flanks and came close to panic whenever they had the opportunity to pack our box from the set pieces. They even created a chance or two from open play.

No question at the break Cambridge will have been kicking themselves not to be ahead. If we carried on as before we were very probably going to lose, the question being whether we would improve, either by working harder or with changes. In the event Appleton made one change, with Kanu coming on to play down the middle, May moving right, and Rylah making way. Appleton I thought went a bit far in the post-match interview, saying he held his hand up for that selection. Rylah had indeed struggled, but in that he was far from alone.

No matter, the change did have an immediate impact as Kanu unsettled them and with May to his right suddenly we carried more threat. It was a different game. And just five minutes after the restart we were ahead. An excellent crossfield pass from Hector found Kanu on the right and he moved forward then delivered a low cross. Fortune favours the brave and when their defender made the interception the ball ran kindly for the incoming May to shoot low into the net.

Fifteen minutes in and we were 2-0 up. CBT held up play on our left side, jinked one way then the other, finally bought a yard of space to get to the byline and dink in a cross just begging for someone to attack. That person was Campbell, ghosting in well and burying the header. A game which could have been beyond us at the break suddenly seemed to be in the bag.

For the next perhaps 20 minutes we might have added another as we dominated play, with Blackett-Taylor increasingly influential. And he nearly sealed the points, working a great position only for his shot to be deflected by a flailing defender for a corner. Cambridge did have their moments, with Hector making a superb late tackle to deny one guy and Watson making sure a cross to our far post wasn’t converted. But they seemed less of a threat than in the first half and perhaps we started to think that, against a team which had lost nine of its 19 league games and had no doubt before seen decent displays go unrewarded, they would fade away.

To their credit that didn’t happen. Instead the CBT shot was as good as it got for us. Inside the final 10 minutes and Blackett-Taylor stayed down, to be replaced by Campbell(T). By now we were content to run down the clock and Cambridge, with nothing to lose, leaving players up front, pushed us back. Maynard-Brewer was called into action a couple of times, then a blocked header led to the corner that swung the game again. And when their guy headed home we all hoped the ref wasn’t really going to add on that much.

Eight minutes. Curiously I thought Campbell(C) had by then been replaced by Mbick. I couldn’t fathom that one as surely we needed another body in midfield to shore things up and keep the ball, either Watson(L) or Asiimwe for fresh legs. Into stoppage time and May was withdrawn for Elerewe to provide more defensive cover. By now any thought of actually controlling the ball and the game seemed to have gone out of the window, we were just hanging on. Which we failed to do, thanks to Edun’s late lunge and the ref not really focusing on where the original challenge and contact was made. The penalty was scored and there was no way that we were going to respond in the final couple of minutes. We may have felt gutted at the final whistle but were well aware that if the game had gone on another 10 we probably would have lost.

Those extra two points would have put us in a far better position to travel to Barnsley next Saturday. Now, lose that one and many will say that the season is already effectively over. Where to lay the blame? Appleton has to take some. Opting to start with Rylah over Campbell(T), or starting with Campbell(C) wide right, will have ended up doing nothing for either’s confidence. Not having Ness or Tedic on the bench seemed strange, the late replacement of Campbell(C) for Mbick seemed to me the wrong choice of replacement for the circumstances, and removing May for an extra defender just failed to have the desired impact. Far from being able to hold the ball towards the end and play out time we became increasingly disjointed. Of course injuries: Isted, Jones, Taylor, McGrandles, Camara, Aneke and Leaburn is just too many to be able to cope with (and for heaven’s sake let’s hope CBT is not included here again). For good measure let’s add the ref. It wasn’t a howler but everyone’s first thought was inside or outside and he was close enough with a clear sight to have got that one right.