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To view the When Saturday Comes Article taken from the Abbey United v Clyde game, please click the following link:  When Saturday Comes Article
"Are they any good" is the question I have been asked the most by our players since the draw was made for the IFA Cup 1st Round match - I'm not quite sure if they were expected me to have sent scouts across the border or not, but I didn't have a clue was the repeated answer! Unsurprisingly Abbey United hadn't met our counterparts from Clyde before, and its only the magic of Cup competition that could see such a match created. Our opponents set off from Glasgow at 2.30am in order to reach Cambridge for the game, and with the weather conditions not helping the journey they arrived in Cambridge at 11am.
The aforementioned weather conditions had led to some concern in the week leading up to the match with such a journey being made meaning the match would have to be played, no late callings off allowed with this one. As it was the overnight snow was no longer visible come kickoff time, just the harder than usual pitch to contend with but definitely playable.

Abbey United starting line-up.
1. Matt Phillips. 2. Rich White (C). 3. Steve Lee. 4. Mark Case. 5. Mark Bentley. 6. Chris Duck. 7. Tom Muncey. 8. Ben Faulkner. 9. Ryan Johnson. 10. Dan Green. 11. James Barringer. Subs. 12. Jamie Douglas. 13. George Blackwell. 14. Lance Sharman. 15. James Denton.

After the squad photo's were taken, the match kicked off, with Abbey United lining up with a 4-4-2 formation. With Matt in goal, Rich White had returned to the team at right-back and also took the captains armband for the first time - a touching recognition for one of the elder players in the team, but also Rich's last foray for Abbey United for sometime as he jets off to sunnier climates in Cyprus on post for the Army.  Steve was at left-back, regular Mark's at centre back, Case and Bentley. Barringer returned to his more regular left midfield position, Ferret on the right, and Muncey and Ducky central. Johnson partnered Dan Green up top.

The game was very enjoyable, and quite even for the opening stages, both teams maybe a little cautious at first, maybe down to getting a feel of their opponents ability but also getting used to the tricky conditions underfoot which cause a few misplaced passes.

As much as a lot of effort was being put in, there weren't really any great chances early on, a couple of long range efforts from Clyde, one with Matt Phillips saving well down low to his left from a long range effort that might have just been creaping into the bottom corner. Going forward, Abbey United were not really getting into the position to have an effort on goal with the final balls lacking and with good defending from the Clyde defence.

The tricky conditions were to blame for the only goal of the game though which came in the 20th minute. The Abbey United goalkeeper being unable to bring the ball under control just outside the area to the right of goal, which in turn caused a sliced clearance to be whacked straight against the Clyde stirker Michael Quigley who had put pressure onto the keeper, and he had the simple job of rollng the ball into an empty net.

The first set of changes saw George Blackwell come on upfront and Jamie Douglas go wide right. Abbey United's best threats in the first half came from a couple of free kicks played into the box, with one effort being prodded over the bar. The match remained fairly even with Clyde playing counter attacking football as the Abbey United midfield pushed to far on the pitch leaving the defence stretched. The score at half-time was 1-0 to the visitors.

Changes at half-time saw Lance Sharman come on at left-back with Steve going into left midfield replacing James Barringer, and James Denton come onto the right wing with Jamie moving central replacing Chris Duck.

And the second half saw Clyde assert themselves a bit more on the game, with Abbey United pressure not really leading to clearcut scoring opportunities. Credit where it is due and James Denton was playing very well beating his man and creating crossing opportunities with relative ease, but when we lost possession the visitors were breaking quickly and getting efforts in on goal but Matt wasn't to be beaten again in the Abbey United goal.

As time wore on Abbey United pressed more and more, and the formation was changed to a 4-3-3. The best chance for Abbey United came midway through the second half, with captain Rich White playing a beautiful cross into the box from the right and Dan Green took the shot but missed when perhaps could have done better.

The Abbey United players were getting agitated at some refereeing decisions as the match wore on, perhaps expecting to receive freekicks and stopping awaiting the decisions that didn't always come, instead of continuing with play. This helped support a number of breakaway chances that Clyde had in the latter quarter of the game, but despite going clear through on goal on several occasions they couldn't find that finish to wrap the game up.

There was time for one last good chance for Abbey United to snatch an equaliser as a ball lumped into the box bounced around agonisingly with a couple of people having efforts blocked at close range before Ben Faulkner lifted a shot over the bar from a couple of yards out. The goalkeeper pushed forward with one final attack which came to nothing, and the match finished Abbey United 0-1 Bully Wee United and the Scottish lads celebrated like they'd won the Cup on the final whistle, understandable given the distance they'd travelled.

The Abbey United Man of the Match, sponsored by www.pims-uk.com, and as voted by his team-mates was Jamie Douglas for a good all round performace with excellent box to box play in midfield, and an honourable mention to Rich White for his exquisite cross that nearly resulted in an equaliser.

Everyone at Abbey United wish to extend our gratitude to the 11 lads that travelled down for this game, and we all enjoyed a great evening out in Cambridge after the game. Best of luck in Round 2.

Abbey United's next game is at home to the fans of West Ham United on Saturday 4 December, although early weather forecasts mean the game is at serious risk of not going ahead.



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Match five of the season for Abbey United saw an early morning trip east down the A14 to play our Suffolk neighbours from Ipswich, in a return game from a fortnight earlier when Abbey United recorded our first home win of the season with a well fought 5-4 victory.

Abbey United starting line-up.
1. Kyle Scott. 2. James Denton. 3. Lance Sharman. 4. Mark Case. 5. Mark Bentley. 6. Chris Duck. 7. Tom Muncey. 8. Steve Lee. 9. Ryan Johnson. 10. James Barringer. 11. Ben Faulkner. Subs. 12. Dan Green. 13. George Blackwell. 14. Richard French

Abbey United lined up with a 4-5-1 formation, full of the knowledge that last season following a home victory against Ipswich we struggled away from home in the return fixture. The plan was to soak up any early pressure before pushing on further.

Kyle continued in goal, Casey and Bentley played at the back with Denton on the right and Lance on the left. Muncey, Steve and Ducky played in the centre of the park with Barringer on the left and Ben Faulkner on the right, with Ryan Johnson playing as the lone striker. Dan and George took to the subs bench.

Ben Ferguson, Dan Gawthrop and Rich White dropping out the squad from the last game, and the management were worried about how they would cope without the self named “vital headers / killer throws / simple match winning keep ball passes“ that Rich allegedly brings to the team!

It took 4 minutes for the opening chance in the game, and it fell the way of Abbey United. Ryan Johnson full of running beat the defenders to a ball over the top and was clear through on goal with the keeper rushing out. As he tried to prod the ball past the keeper he was bundled over by the defender coming back just outside the area. In a professional match a red card would have certainly followed, but that isn’t the way in a friendly league so a free kick sufficed which was wasted.

Once again the match was fairly even, Ipswich looked dangerous going forward, especially down the wings, and it was the hosts who took the lead in the 9th minute after a ball in from a corner was headed home from close range. This led to an immediate change to a 4-4-2 formation with James Barringer moving up front and Chris Duck moving to the wing, with the hope of making the ball stick up top a little more.

It was 2-0 shortly after though with another ball coming across from the right hand side and the ball was finished from 10 years out in front of goal. Kyle was busy in the Abbey United goal pulling off a number of good saves to keep the scoreline down. Abbey United weren’t playing the best, and were giving the ball away too often, but when we did pass the ball things were working. The first of a couple of changes happened half way through the half, Dan replacing Ryan up top and George coming in at centre back with James Denton being withdrawn.

The ball was sticking better up top now as we settled into the game, and shortly before half-time we managed to pull a goal back, and it was a good football playing goal too, good passing across the midfield led to Ben Faulkner playing a ball through to Tom Muncey who coolly slotted past the goalkeeper, for his first goal from open play for Abbey United. Just as we thought we would go in a goal behind at halftime though Ipswich scored again and the scored was 3-1 at halftime.

As we gathered our thoughts at halftime we all knew what was needed - to keep the ball better and play football. We felt Ipswich were weakest at the back and we need to work the ball better. To do so we decided to switch to a 4-3-3 formation and get the ball forward quicker.

Sadly we conceded again not long after kick-off after a weak effort was lost by the goalkeeper, but unlike in previous games we kept going and the team didn’t let their heads drop, and were deservedly pulled another goal back, when James Barringer broke down the right hand side of the pitch, smashed a low ball across the goal mouth where it was pushed in by a Ipswich defender, although Ryan Johnson was just behind him and would have surely scored given the chance.

The play was open stilI open with both teams trying to pass the ball, but a weak back pass from the centre of the park let the Ipswich man through to make the scoreline 5-2 after the hour, and then not long after a sixth goal for Ipswich put the result out of reach.

Player/Manager Richard French entered the pitch on 70 minutes replacing Lance Sharman at left back who had worked hard all game. Abbey United were continuing to press, and some neat build up play saw the ball fall to Dan Green on the edge of the area and as he progressed he was brought down for a clear penalty. With regular penalty taker Tom Muncey off the pitch at this stage, Player/Captain/Manager Richard French took responsibility with a queue of players wanting the kick, and placed the ball low to the keepers right to make the scoreline 6-3.

Abbey United were pressing hard for the last 5, committing bodies forward but leaving only 1 or 2 back and were lucky not to concede further as Ipswich broke, but the scoreline remained the same.

Final score, Ipswich Town 6-3 Abbey United, our third 9 goal game in a row. Most importantly though the game was played well, in the right spirit, with the most pleasing thing for the management was the way we continued to play football right until the end.

The Abbey United Man of the Match, sponsored by www.pims-uk.com, and as voted by his team-mates was Tom Muncey, for his well taken goal and hard working performance in the middle of the park. Honourable mentions go to Mark Case who was solid on the ball, and Lance Sharman who always looked for the right pass and showed good movement.

Abbey United’s next game is away to Kettering Town on Saturday 13 November.

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Saturday 2 October 2010, Abbey United 5-4 Ipswich Town

Abbey United played their first home game of the season against Ipswich Town supporters on Saturday, and after three defeats on the road it was a chance to recover the form of the back end of last season. The squad was full and with some players missing out too, which is always nice.

Abbey United starting line-up.
1. Kyle Scott. 2. Rich White. 3. Steve Lee. 4. Dan Gawthrop. 5. Mark Bentley. 6. Dan Green. 7. Tom Muncey. 8. Ben Faulkner. 9. Ben Ferguson. 10. James Barringer. 11. James Denton. Subs. 12. Chris Duck. 13. Lance Sharman. 14. George Blackwell. 15. Ryan Johnson

Abbey United lined up with a 4-4-2 formation, last seasons top-scorer Ben Ferguson returning to the squad and taking his place up front. Dan Gawthrop slotted in at centre-back alongside Mark Bentley, and Dan Green played in an unaccustomed position in central midfield. Kyle retained his place in goal despite shipping nine in the last game. 

The match was being played at Coldhams Common, and we were playing on the pitch furthest away from the changing rooms, still its nice to have completed the warm-up upon reaching the pitch.

The game started with Abbey United defending the ‘Abbey Stadium End’, and it only took a few minutes for Abbey United to lead. Abbey United forced a corner, and the ball was crossed in deep to the edge of the area where Ben Faulkner was running in unmarked and he played the ball into the goal off the underside of the crossbar, 1-0.

The match was fairly even with a few chances at either end, but it took until the 25th minute for the next goal, and it went the way of Ipswich with the striker prodding in after good build up play.

The scores weren’t level for long though as James Barringer pushed forward into the box with the ball and the keeper came rushing out, and as the forward turned with the ball to look to lay it off the keeper brought him down, and Abbey United were awarded a penalty. Up stepped regular penalty taker Tom Muncey who coolly placed the ball into the corner of the goal, 2-1, and this is how the scoreline stayed at half-time.

We were delighted to be leading at half-time, and the team talk was around keeping the ball on the deck more and playing more football. We started the second half much more brightly, and penalty claims were turned down when Ben Ferguson went down in the area too easily, upsetting the Ipswich defender who felt it was a dive more fitted to the premier league. 

Ipswich were continuing to create chances, and Kyle Scott was forced into producing a couple of stunning saves, diving at full stretch to stop goal bound efforts struck from distance.

After 65 minutes Abbey United got their third goal though, when Mark Bentley who had been moved into central midfield played a ball over the defence onto Ben Ferguson who had broken clear and he neatly placed the ball past the goalkeeper to make the scoreline 3-1.

It soon became 4-1 moments later, and after some neat build-up play down the left hand side, Mark Bentley laid the ball to the feet of Dan Green, who turned and smashed the ball goalwards. With the ball going towards the left-hand side it deviated of a defender trying to make the block and trickled in on the right of the goal with the goalkeeper left standing in the middle of the goal.

It looked at this stage like Abbey United had done enough to win the game, but Ipswich continued to press, and on 78 minutes Ipswich scored their second forcing the ball in from close range, 4-2.

The goal of the game followed on 85 minutes as Ipswich continued to press, and after working the ball down the right, the Ipswich captain went past two defenders and from the edge of the area hit of the ball with the outside of the foot and beautifully floated the ball into the far top corner of the goal, 4-3.

Possession after this point continued to be even, and on 90 minutes Abbey United wrapped up the victory, with another penalty. James Barringer pushed into the area again and was bundled down. Ben Ferguson placed the ball on the spot, but stepped aside to allow Tom Muncey to score his second penalty of the game, 5-3.

The scoring wasn’t over however and in the 5th of five minutes of added time in which Ipswich pressed forward, the scoreline was made 5-4 with another goal from close range.

Final score, Abbey United 5-4 Ipswich Town. The game was in many ways as close as the scoreline suggests, with both sides having quite a number of chances, however we certainly will feel we were in control of the game, and it is certainly pleasing to secure our first win early on in the season. Everyone in the team played well today, which shows what we are capable of as a team.

The Abbey United Man of the Match, sponsored by www.pims-uk.com, was Dan Gawthrop, who put in a solid performance in central defence, winning everything that came his way.

Abbey United’s next game is our return fixture in Ipswich on Saturday 16 October.

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Saturday 18 September 2010, Kidderminster Harriers Supporters 9-0 Abbey United

Abbey United took to the road for their 3rd game of the season, and 3rd game on the road. After a poor start at Peterborough, and closer game at Leicester but with the same outcome. hopes were higher after a close performance against Leicester a couple of weeks earlier.

Abbey United starting line-up.
1. Kyle Scott. 2. James Denton. 3. Mark Case. 4. Ryan Johnson. 5. Mark Bentley. 6. Chris Duck. 7. Tom Muncey. 8. Rich White. 9. Dan Green. 10. Steve Lee. 11. James Barringer. Subs. 12. Ben Faulkner. 13. Richard French

Abbey United lined up with a 4-4-2 formation, Steve Lee making his debut in a forward position, and Ben Faulkner playing in a wide position. We also used our 3rd goalkeeper in 3 games with regular centre back Kyle Scott going in goal.

As you will have no doubt already worked out by the scoreline at the top of the page, Abbey United were thoroughly outplayed from start to finish, mainly due to a complete lack of teamwork, combined with the fact that after the 4th goal shortly after half-time the majority of the team pretty much gave up which just left even more space to be exploited.

The game started with Abbey United shooting slightly upslope, but after a even start that saw Abbey United catch Kidderminster’s strikers offside on several occasions, we were soon behind after the Kidderminster striker scored a superb volley over the goalkeeper from 18 yards out.

Abbey United were from this point onwards completely on the back foot and midway through the first half were 2-0 down after another neat finish.

Abbey United’s two best chances followed and after Dan Green was played through on goal by Tom Muncey shooting over the bar from just outside the area, we had another chance following a mistake by the Kidderminster goalkeeper. An attempted clearance on the edge of the area was sliced straight to Dan Green, and after taking control of the ball Dan attempted to lift the ball over the goalkeeper but it fell onto the roof of the net.

Abbey United conceded again towards the end of the half, and were 3-0 down at half-time.

After a half-time team talk that was around trying to work out how they always had an extra man on our right hand side coupled with keeping the ball better and working for each other, fell to shreds as soon as we took the field as Kidderminster scored their 4th, 5th and 6th within what was probably only a 5 minute spell.

Our heads completely dropped after the 4th, and as the realisation set in that a heavy defeat was on the horizon we played with a much more relaxed urgency, way too relaxed.

Mark Bentley moved into midfield and became a more creative force with a few decent moves forward, but we still didn’t really create any good chances. Having that little bit more going forward left us completely open at the back though, with the midfield now not tracking back at all, so we found ourselves in a number of 3 v 5 situations at the back. Abbey United eventually got a player on the scorers list when Mark Case headed superbly past the goalkeeper following a cross in from the right, sadly straight past our own keeper.

Kidderminster had time to add a couple more good goals on the break, and despite Abbey United forcing a couple of late corners, the final score was 9-0 to the hosts. The losing margin was unfortunately the 2rd time Abbey United had lost by 9 goals, losing 11-2 at home to Stevenage last season in a equally shocking performance.

The Abbey United Man of the Match, sponsored by www.pims-uk.com, was Mark Bentley, who regardless of the fact was at centre-back for part of the game, showed the most consistency and creativity when moved into midfield.

Abbey United’s next game is the first home game of the season when we host the supporters of Ipswich Town on Saturday 2 October at Coldhams Common.

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Saturday 28 August 2010, Leicester City Supporters 3-2 Abbey United

After a disappointing defeat at Peterborough the weekend before, Abbey United were up in action again against Leicester’s fans, in a match conveniently on route to the U’s game in Mansfield. On this basis you’d have thought there would have been a strong squad of players to choose from, but this wasn’t the case and with only 8 players signed up on Friday evening, a lot of time was spent with several people on the phone trying to recruit a few more players! A big thanks are owed to the Ipswich fans team who also spent time phoning round trying to recruit some of their northern based supporters to help us out, as to Leicester who had offered a couple of players if needed.

Last season’s two games with Leicester were probably the two most exciting games we played, and closest in the scorelines too. We played twice in May just after the close of the season, and in our home game we found ourselves trailing 3-2 moving into injury time, but managed two very late goals to snatch a 4-3 win. Similar occurred in the following away match and we were 3-1 down moving into injury time before two late goals again led to a 3-3 draw. We were hopeful for a similarly eventful game, and eventful it certainly was although not necessarily all for the right reasons.

Abbey United starting line-up.
1. Stu McKay. 2. Jamie Nightingale. 3. Chris Green. 4. Tom Goddard. 5. Chris Duck. 6. George Blackwell. 7. Tom Muncey. 8. Tel Glynn. 9. Dan Green. 10. Josh Parker. 11. James Barringer. Subs. 12. Ryan Johnson. 13. Luke Nudds.

With a number of debutants in the squad for this game and being conscious of the fact we’d been over-run in midfield in our last game, we started this game with a 4-1-4-1 formation -and also aware that there wasn’t really a second striker in the squad. Abbey United wore our bright yellow kit, United’s 3rd kit from a few seasons back. A nicely named and numbered kit proudly worn by the U’s fans eager to put on the shirts once worn by the likes of Michael Morrison, Mark Peters and Mark Convery!

We had a much better start than we did to the game a week earlier, and everyone was much more comfortable on the ball. The left-back Chris Green was able to impressively get past the oncoming wingers to open up play out of defence, allowing us to show to great movement between defence and midfield. We did find however only having 1 up top mean that we didn’t really create any real chances when the ball reached the striker, and lost the ball up the field more often than we would have liked.

Still, we were solid at the back and didn’t look much like conceding, the defence coping well with any attack Leicester mounted, and the game was shaping out to be quite even. The game was becoming more and more physical however as the half played on, with some strong challenges from the hosts, although the referee was on top of this penalising a number of challenges. The best chance of the half went Leicester’s way, in the means of what turned into a goalmouth scramble, the ball being aimed goal wards on 4 occasions in a matter of second but brilliant goalkeeping and goal line defending kept the ball out of the net. The scoreline at halftime was 0-0.

It wasn’t long before the first goal of the game came though at the start of the second half. A ball played down the right as Leicester attacked was handled by the Leicester winger to bring it under control. But despite the linesman’s flag signally the offence the referee waved played on and the ball was played across to an unmarked striker who slotted the ball home for 1-0.

1-0 quickly became 2-0 as Leicester broke through the middle and scored a neat second goal. It is occasions like this where our heads could have dropped and the scoreline turn sour, but Abbey United kept the work-rate up and worked to getting back into the game, with some good play coming from the centre of midfield supported by movement from the back. Tom Goddard was defending superbly, and was creating play for the midfield too with great movement on the ball. It didn’t take long for us to get a goal back, as a ball across from the right by Dan Green was met by a Leicester defender attempting an overhead clearance. The defender caught our man and the referee awarded a penalty. Tom Muncey stepped up after his 5 out of 5 record from the spot last season and confidently placed to ball into the top right hand corner of the goal.

Abbey United continued to press and 10 minutes later won a second penalty. Again a ball played into the box and this time the same Leicester defender who had conceded the earlier penalty brought down Dan Green for a clear penalty. Tom Muncey stepped forward again and this time the Leicester players did their best to put him off, and they succeeded with the ball being smashed about 5 yards over the bar.

The match continued, and the shape of played was changing with more and more strong challenges coming in. This was clearly starting to frustrate a number of the Abbey United players as the match moved on. The referee was busy giving a number of free-kicks, none of which we were able to capitalise on.

Leicester went 3-1 in front after another break through the centre. As the defence moved forward looking to catch the striker onside, the right-back misjudged this and left two players clean through on goal on the edge of area. Anticipating the ball to be passed the keeper left a small gap in the near bottom corner and the ball was neatly slotted home.

Seemingly confident of their victory despite lessons that should have been learnt from the previous season, Leicester took their foot of the gas a little, and seemed content to halt play as much as possible with a number of fouls, many over the top. Unfortunately one of these was a two footed lunge which caught Jamie Nightingale on the ankle. The player was ordered off, but unfortunately for Jamie that was the end of his game, and he had to be carried from the field by players from both sides.

The referee added on 6-7 minutes caused by the delay for the injury, and with Abbey United playing with only 10 men, we managed to straight away get another goal back. Neat play from the midfield led to Tel Glynn and Josh Parker with some room in the area. Although Josh tangled with Tel, both keen to score, Tel eventually prodded the ball home from close range to make it 3-2.

We wondered whether the feat of two injury time goals could be matched for a 3rd game in a row, and despite a couple more chances, including a neat run from Josh Parker ending with the ball going just over the bar, we couldn’t get the equaliser, and the game finished 3-2 in Leicester’s favour.

The Abbey United Man of the Match, sponsored by www.pims-uk.com, and decided following a vote amongst the team on the day was Tom Goddard, who let nothing past him all game at centre back, and also impressed with a number of forward surges to open play for the forward playerAbbey United are next in action when we travel to Kidderminster on Saturday 18 September. .

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Saturday 21 August 2010, Peterborough United Supporters 6-1 Abbey United

Abbey United’s first game of the 2010/11 IFA League season took a disappointing start, after suffering a 6-1 loss away at Peterborough, a result only slightly better than the 6-0 defeat at home to the same team in the corresponding opening fixture of last season. We had beaten Peterborough 2-1 on their patch last season in March, and were hopeful of pulling off a result again but it wasn’t to be.

The IFA League is a league consisting of supporters team from across the UK in one big league system, Abbey United finished a record high of 30th last season out of 80 teams.

We certainly weren’t looking for any excuses after the first game of the season, but despite missing our top goalscorer from last season, Ben Ferguson, who was left at home after an early morning call found he was still in bed, along with 2 other regular players, the team should have been strong enough to put in a decent performance ahead of a 8.15am departure from The Abbey Stadium.

Abbey United starting line-up.
1. Dylan Tibbs. 2.Ryan Johnson. 3. Lance Sharman. 4. Chris Duck. 5. Mark Bentley. 6. Tom Muncey. 7. James Denton. 8. Jamie Douglas. 9. Dan Green. 10. Dom Baldock. 11. James Barringer. Subs. 12. Richard Chege. 13. Rich White.

You wouldn’t really look at the scoreline and think there were any real positives from the game, however there were a couple, but there is no doubt that there is some work to do ahead of the rest of the season. We had a few players playing in unfamiliar positions in a 4-4-2 formation, including a new central defensive partnership between Chris Duck and regular centre-back Mark Bentley, and James Denton on the wrong side of the pitch in right midfield, but it was a good show in unfamiliar positions from all involved.

In a even start to the game, Abbey United playing in their light blue shirts, royal blue shorts and yellow socks, found themselves through on goal on two occasions in the first 10 minutes found, only to be caught and for the ball to be played to safety. It was a reasonable start against a team we know carry a threat. However as the game moved on Peterborough started to dominate, and soon themselves started put the pressure on with increased possession.

They led after 15 minutes, and asserted that advantage with two more goals in the first half, taking advantage of poor positioning from the defence and midfield who in fairness and as mentioned weren’t all playing in accustomed positions.

With nothing to really write home about in the first-half, the half-time team talk consisted of a discussion around keeping the ball, playing the simple ball, and using the wings more, something we did really well in the second half of last season. We decided to try and change the shape slightly and packed the midfield with a 4-5-1 formation, although that did seem to flitter between a 4-4-2 on occasion as the team settled into its new shape for the second half.

The second half began in disastrous style however as mis-control from the goalkeeper left the Peterborough striker with a tap-in for 4-0. It was from here however that Abbey United started to improve, and led to a much more impressive spell of play where we moved the ball about neatly, kept possession and used the wings. We worked a few corners from spells of play down the wings, but only really managed a shot from an effort from Chris Duck lashing an effort high and wide from the edge of the area when under pressure from their defence. We were soon caught out again at the back and found ourselves 5 down.

Still on the back of a bit more possession we eventually got a consolation goal, as the ball was neatly kept on the right wing, played smartly across our defence before Mark Bentley played a ball from 10 yards inside our own half, precisely over the top of the Peterborough defence onto the forward moving Dom Baldock from central midfield. Clear through on goal, Dom took a couple of touches, and despite the option of a simple pass to his right where Tom Muncey and Ryan Johnson had rushed forward ahead of the Peterborough defence, he played the ball low to the right of the diving goalkeeper into the right hand side of the goal.

A couple more ambitious efforts from Abbey United left Peterborough untroubled, whose goalkeeper had an easy game, and they added a late sixth goal, to make the final score a more than deserved 6-1.

The Abbey United Man of the Match, sponsored by www.pims-uk.com, and decided following a vote amongst the team on the day was Mark Bentley, who impressed everyone with a solid display and a brilliant assist for the Abbey United goal.

Abbey United are next in action when we travel to Leicester on Saturday 28 August, on-route to the proper game in Mansfield. We had two very exciting games last season against Leicester, winning 4-3 at home in early May, scoring twice in injury time to win the game, before a 3-3 draw in late May, again with a free kick 5 mins from time being followed up by an injury time equaliser.

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Abbey United 3 - 0 Ipswich Town - Saturday 27 February 2010

The match reports are back by popular demand (and because we‘re better now!). Fresh from a superb 3-3 draw against title chasing AFC Wimbledon two weeks earlier, we hosted Ipswich Town. Hopes were high as we entered the game, Dylan was back in goal, the back for consisted of Mark Case, Pete Parnwell, Lance Sharman and the returning Ben Yelton.
Tom Muncey, Dan Gawthrop and George Blackwell started in the middle as we looked to continue the 4-5-1 system that had served us well in recent games. Dom Baldock, skipper for the day after his two goals in the last game started up front, with Chris Duck and James Barringer out wide. James Denton and Dan Green started on the bench.  

GK: Dylan Tibbs, RB: Mark Case, LB: Lance Sharman, CB: Pete Parnwell, CB: Ben Yelton, CM: Dan Gawthrop, CM: Tom Muncey, CM: George Blackwell, LM: James Barringer, RM: Chris Duck and FW: Dom Baldock

Subs: LM: James Denton, FW: Dan Green

We had a couple of early let offs in the match, Mark Case tripping one of the Ipswich strikers in the box, and play stopped with everybody expecting a penalty however to the amazement of most the referee waved play on. Probably one of the most blatant penalties ever, but more about penalties later. Next up the Ipswich target man headed over the bar. Half way through the first half we seemed to be slightly edging possession without really causing many problems, and the decision was taken to change the shape to the more traditional 4-4-2. This seemed to spur us on, and Dan Green came on up front as we were confident that our young, sprightly midfield could cope with their Jan Molbyesque midfielder. The change worked straight away, as cracking football on the left between the energetic James Barringer and Tom Muncey saw a foul on James Barringer as the defender cut across him and we were awarded our first penalty, which Tom Muncey duly put away to put us 1-0 up. “Scrappy” would be putting a positive light on the match and performance at this point.

Half-time 1-0.

 The second half was just as gritty…Dan Green and James Barringer were causing them all sorts of problems on the left hand side of the park, and James Denton was playing well down the left hand side too. Dan Green went down under a challenge early in the second half that really should have been penalty number two, after taking on one man and flicking the ball over the head of a second before being bundled down, but nothing was given.

Penalty number two did follow on the hour mark, as James Barringer was brought down again. Tom Muncey stepped up again, and made the scoreline 2-0. Another penalty shout followed shortly after, before Dom Baldock made it 3-0 on the 70 minute mark with a header from just inside the 6 yard box after a great ball in from Barringer from the right hand side of the penalty area.

At this point we seemed to take our foot of the gas a little, and Ipswich had a couple of opportunities to get a goal back, however Dylan Tibbs in the Abbey United goal dealt well with everything all game. Abbey United had one further chance with around 5 minutes remaining when we found ourselves in a four vs one position breaking clear on half way, but poor control by Dan Green saw possession lost. The defence remained solid throughout which is also pleasing as we picked up the win.

Final score. Abbey United 3-0 Ipswich Town.

We actually played better in our last game when we drew against AFC Wimbledon and also in the defeat away to West Ham a couple of weeks before that…but who cares as a win is a win and at last the benefit of having a regular group of players is starting to pay dividends. This was our first win in 18 attempts (although we’ve had 3 draws in that run!) since we defeated the supporters of Oxford United on 22^nd November 2008 so well done to everyone for yesterdays performance. Next up is the big local derby with a “friendly” game against Histon supporters on Saturday 13 March, as we try to get revenge for their cheating victory back in October.

One question remains…as we played football on Saturday morning on a pitch that would have beenmore than sufficient for league football…how did we all manage to miss the torrential rainstorm that must have engulfed the Abbey Stadium between 10 and 12 o’clock!?

Report by Mark Case and Richard French.

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Histon 3 Abbey United 2 - Saturday 3 October 2009

   
A much-improved United performance saw an end to the recent run of stupidly heavy defeats, but sadly, not an end to the run of defeats.
 
Local bragging rights were at stake for this clash, half of each team seemed to know each other from college, work, nursery or somewhere else. The Abbey players were all up for the match and some particularly strange individuals had come along to watch it, Steve Fallon, Alan Lewer and Gareth Baldwin among them….although I severely doubt it was a scouting mission! The match kicked off in blustery conditions…have those of you who have read the match reports before ever noticed how when we play it is always too something? Too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, too muddy…or is it just me? Anyway, we lined up for the game with a couple of new players in the squad.

The starting line up was:

GK: Matt Phillips, RB: Mark Case, LB: Richard French, CB: Peter Parnwell, CB: Mark Bentley, CM: Ben Tarling, CM: Richard Stephen, LM: James Barringer, RM: James Denton, FW: Frankie Fry and FW: Chris Munday.
Subs RM: Kyle Scott, CM: Tom Muncey, CM: Richard Chege and FW: Ben Ferguson.

The classic 4-4-2 was this weeks weapon of choice and the match started brightly, and both teams played some good stuff. Histon got an early lead from a neatly struck free kick on about 5 minutes from just outside the box. The fact that it was never a foul in a million light years didn’t help, but then the referee for the first half was one of the Histon players. Histon were playing with the strong wind in the first half, and this helped their performance, they could have been 2-0 up after a couple of chances, but then we equalised as Chris Munday turned in a corner from James Barringer to score his debut goal. He had been told a minute before that he was going to be subbed, so I think that spurred him on…and yes, he was subbed anyway, for a well deserved rest! The first half looked like fading out, with a number of crunching tackles and half chances. James Barringer playing on the left wing went off injured after a Histon player decided to rake his studs into his shin, the Histon player was soon after subbed and didn’t play any further part. Then just before the break the Histon keeper lumped the ball forward and we all got confused in the wind, the striker a little less confused than those of us at the back and he tucked it away from close range. Half time. 2-1.
 
Some changes to personnel for the second half, and a much improved performance from Abbey United, helped also by the wind which had died down quite a bit from the first half. We equalised early on, with possibly the best build up ever seen for an Abbey United goal, lovely one touch, sexy Ruud Gullit style football by Ben Tarling eventually took the ball to Chris’ feet, and he tucked away his second to make it 2-2. We were on top now, and had two or three excellent chances. Richard Chege crashed a free-kick from the left onto the crossbar, and a goalmouth scramble also saw the bar crash onto the bar before being eventually cleared. The Histon keeper was then forced into a couple of excellent saves. As the half progressed Histon had a couple of chances of their own, Matt Phillips having to make two excellent stops from short range. The match looked to be heading for a draw until the Histon midfielder lumped the ball into the box (don’t know if that sounds familiar Histon fans?) to find their striker unmarked a few yards out, but then he was only 5 yards offside, but he headed the ball past the helpless Matt in goal. Yes, the linesman was one of the Histon players too!
Credit to everyone who played to day, everyone played to their best and we used the ball well, certainly the best performance of the season.
Our next game is likely to be when Kidderminster visit us on 31 October.

FInal Score: Histon 3 Abbey United 2

Report by Mark Case and Richard French

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West Ham 5 Abbey United 3 - Saturday 30 May 2009



Those of you that have been reading the match reports, may remember a game we played against Oxford were I complained loudly that it was colder than cold, and surely all records regarding temperatures would have to be checked over….I promise, never, ever to moan about the cold again.

On the last Saturday of May, we travelled to East Ham, to play West Ham. Where North Ham and South Ham fit in, I don’t know. On watching the cup final in the afternoon, the thermometer pith side at Wembley read 41 Celsius and I think it was just as warm at our pitch. Incidentally, professionals always say that Wembley is a huge pitch, and the pitch we played on was MASSIVE. You think this might mean that AUFC could surely play there lovely, flowing passing game on a huge pitch in the glorious sunshine, sadly, it meant that the gaps between our banks of 4, 4 and 2 were even bigger than usual, and the heat and lack of options on the bench meant were even more tired than usual.

The starting line up was:

GK: Kyle Scott, RB: Pete Parnwell, LB: Gary Robinson, CB: Mark Case, CB: Will Horner, CM: Richard French, CM: Frankie Fry, RM: Chris Duck, LM: James Barringer, FW: Harry Weller and FW: George Blackwell.
Sub: CM: Tim Baxter.

At half time, the game was 0-1, and we had actually been playing pretty well, George and Harry were working hard up top and the latter had missed a couple of good chances, and we could have easily been at least level. George missed a good chance at the start of the second half, and then, they scored twice in 5 minutes, one on the break when their player was standing 5 yards offside and then from a free header form a corner. Mark's inspirational half time team talk had worked wonders again!

Only now did the realisation that Abbey United weren't playing to their potential have an affect on the team, and we started to work the ball better, and we started to speed things up, using the wings more often, and birthday boy James down the left started to cause problems to the West Ham defence. Debutant Gary pulled one back after a quick move following a poor goal kick by the West Ham keeper, before West Ham broke through a struggling, tiring, hot and injury plagued defence to make it 4-1. Gary then pulled another one back, curling a ball with his left foot into the bottom corner from around 8 yards out to make it 4-2. The comeback may have been on, but the Hammers scored a 5th, as they breezed through a struggling, tiring, hot and injury played defence (have I made enough of this as an excuse yet?).
Abbey United were awarded a late penalty, after George had tried to cross the ball from the touchline and according to the referee it was blocked by the Hammers defender with his arm. Up stepped Gary on debut to complete his hat-trick from the penalty spot stroking the ball sweetly to the keepers right and into the bottom corner, thus completely his hat trick .

Final Score 5-3

Abbey United were thoroughly outplayed in March when West Ham visited Cambridge, losing by 8 goals to nil, and the management realised what could be in store if a similar performance was produced this time out. However, despite never being in control for long periods, a far improved Abbey United performance meant a much closer scoreline, and one which the team can certainly be proud of against Premiership opposition. The workrate of the second half was much more impressive and the outcome could have been different on another day.
Abbey United are trying to get a couple more fixtures in the next few weeks, but if not the team can take a deserved break after a much improved season than the last few, after recording 2 wins in total from 11 games, 2 more than the season before!

Mark Case and Richard French

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Abbey United 2 Oxford United 0 – Saturday 22 November 2008

You could be forgiven for thinking I had made this, and the previous results up, especially if you aware of our history. I am yet to check the official Moosenet/Abbey United records, but I think this is the first time we have kept successive clean sheets! 
 
It was a very, very, VERY cold morning as we arrived at Coldhams Common. Colder than Siberia according to a Daily Mail headline I read earlier in the day. Only a matter of time before they come over here, stealing our snow then. We only had 11 players (not having subs in these games makes it very hard!) and the midfielder's that had worked so well last weekend had to be completely changed, as Frankie and Andy were both unavailable. George came in as goalkeeper, meaning that Mark and Mark could reform their normally unsuccessful centre back partnership. Hero of the first hour last week, Lance, returned to play again at left back, seemingly with no intention to leave early to go to watch a United away game!! “Shagger” (real name James) came in for his debut.
 
GK: George Blackwell, RB: Richard White, LB: Lance Sharman, CB: Mark Case, CB: Mark Bentley, CM: Richard French, CM: James Munroe, LM: James Barringer, RM: Andy Lang, FW: Harry Weller, FW: Jamie Bates
Sub: FW: Jack Rogers
 
There was a biting wind as well as the freezing cold to deal with in the first half. Maybe we were in Siberia after all. Good football is hard enough on a normal day, but in these conditions it was near enough impossible. Every Oxford goal kick went out for a throw and every ball forward from us was too hard. The Oxford keeper made a great save form a long range shot from Jamie. We played well, considering, and had a few other half chances. The most notable action of the first half was James going down with an injury after a tackle, he hobbled off, and it was looking like we would have to play with 10, until a few minutes later Jack who had turned up late quickly got changed and we were back to eleven!
 
Half time 0-0.
 
There was no real changes to make at half time, apart from Jack going up front, and Richard moving to left wing to allow Jamie to come into the centre of midfield.
 
This move seemed to work eventually, but a tight start to the second half followed, as once again, each side struggled to cope with the wind and cold!
 
Abbey United defended well, and got their chance after an hour, Jamie Bates holding on to the ball well and made himself space to hit a low shot into the bottom corner form 20 yards. United were coping with playing against the wind a lot better than Oxford did. It was 2-0 with 15 minutes to go. A contender for goal of the season as the goalkeeper George rolled the ball out, and Whitey played it forward. The ball went in from “Shagger” on the wing leaving Harry Weller with a virtually open goal. Arsenal would have been proud. Well, maybe not proud exactly, but certainly envious. Oxford pressed a bit more after this, but we held on for another clean sheet.

Final score 2-0

We continue our move up the table next week, at home to Ebbsfleet, a side we beat last year, and hopefully the same set of lads that have played so well in the last couple of weeks will be there again. Abbey United, (currently) miles better than Cambridge United.

Mark Case
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Abbey United 3 Kettering Town Supporters Club 0 - Saturday 15 November 2008
 
This game was arranged as Kettering were playing away at Histon. It was their third ever game together, but as they had won their last two, Abbey United’s players were rightly fearful. They looked very professional as the they arrived, all shirts and bibs and proper warm up routines, very unlike the rabble in yellow!!
 
With some of our younger and newer players keen to make it to Crawley, it was a more experienced Abbey line up that took the field, with a couple of debutants and players drafted in due to the U’s playing somewhere else. Manager Mark Case “volunteered” to go in goal for the first period of the game. Lance made his debut at left back, and became the 30th different player to play for Abbey Unied this season. Joe Cooke who played once last season returned to play up front and Andy Moore came into midfield to make his debut. Mark, Andy and Joe all played together for a less than successful Sunday league team a few years ago, meaning that there was some people in the team who knew each other.
 
Thoughts amongst the management team were leaning towards starting with a 3-5-2 system, thankfully, some of the key players to this didn’t show up and so we went with an orthodox 4-4-2 with the central midfielder's instructed to sit close to the back 4.
 
The starting line up was….
 
GK: Mark Case, RB: Andrew Lang, LB: Lance Sharman, CB: Mark Bentley, CB: Ben Yelton, CM: Andy Moore, CM: Frankie Fry, RM: Mike Osbourn, LM: James Barringer, FW: Harry Weller and FW: Joe Cooke.
Subs: LB: Richard French and RB: Richard White.
 
The match started brightly, with both teams playing some nice football. Abbey United did well to protect their goalkeeper, who had little to do early on in the game. The midfield pair of Frankie and Andy was working well, showing Mr Capello that it is possible to play midfielder's who play the same game together!
 
Abbey United took the lead after 15 minutes. James found himself in an unnatural amount of space and put the ball towards the back post for Mike Osbourn to steer home. By this point, we had already had more shots on goal than we did in the entire of the previous game away at Northampton (i.e. more than none). It was 2-0 not long after, Frankie Fry gathered the ball in midfield before firing a shot into the top corner of the goal from….according to him…47 yards. In the pub later the management decided it was more like 25, either way, it was a goal that deserved to be seen by more than the 5 or 6 substitutes in attendance. After this, Kettering started to play a bit. They realised that maybe if they had some shots, they might score goals. Mark tipped a shot onto the post (not that anyone saw the touch that kept it out) and then a chance flew past the post. Following a Kettering corner, Abbey United showed that they are as good at counter attacking as Arsenal. The ball fell loose 25 yards from goal, Andy Lang tackled like never before and the ball broke to Mike Osbourn who took it on and blasted it past the keeper. The previous management regime for Abbey United wondered what had happened. Their current regime wondered too.
 
Half time 3-0
 
The second half saw some changes, most notably, scorer of 2 goals Mike going in goal as he had 90 minutes to play that afternoon. Mark went to centre back with Ben going onto the bench.
 
Kettering really came at us in the second half, playing 4 upfront and pushing us back. We struggled to get hold of the ball and had to spend large parts of the half “under the cosh” as the cliché goes. Mike made a couple of good saves to prevent Kettering getting a foothold in the game, Joe and James had chances to wrap it up but the keeper made fantastic one on one save form Joe and James missed with a volley. Kettering’s keeper also made a save that any keeper would have been proud of, shifting the direction of his dive following a deflected shot. Kettering continued to press for a goal, but couldn’t get through the strong Abbey United defence. With 10 minutes to go, James came off injured and Mark went upfront. There won’t be many players that play centre back, centre forward and goalkeeper in a game. (Ed. 10 minutes upfront nearly killed me, and I am never, ever doing it again.)
 
Final score 3-0
 
A superb performance form a team who have been slowly getting to know each other over the last few weeks. If we played Mansfield or Northampton now, we may well get a result. If we played Millwall again, we would still get stuffed. A first win and clean sheet of the season was made more impressive as we didn’t have a real goalkeeper. Mentions this week must go to everyone. Everyone played well, battled well, kept a good defensive line and tracked back. Here’s to hoping we can continue this good form against Oxford next weekend.

 Mark Case
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 Northampton Town Supporters Club 3 Abbey United 0 - Saturday 18 October 2008

Another free Saturday led to Abbey United taking the short trip over to Northampton for our first ever visit to their supporters side, who we have hosted regularly in our annual summer tournaments in recent years.

The Abbey United management team took a leaf out of Fabio Capello’s book this weekend, as we were willing to change tactics at half time as the system we started with was proving ineffective. Sadly, the changes were too, so we changed again. And again. Partly to get the performance going a bit, and partly to give everyone who travelled a decent amount of time on the pitch. The matches we play are always roll on, roll off subs, so sometimes there can be a bit of confusion.

We started with a traditional 4-4-2 system. Jamie Nightingale playing in goal. Veteran Anton returned to the squad after some time away from the scene (I suspect this is due to the authoritative manner of the previous management regime). Harry came in up front for his debut and Cristophe made a debut on the right wing. Neal came in for his first game of the season to partner Harry upfront. At last, 2 people who call themselves strikers. And a proper goalkeeper. What could possibly go wrong…..
 
The squad was as follows:
GK: Jamie Nightingale, RB: Andy Lang, LB: Richard French, CB: Mark Bentley, CB: Mark Case, CM: James Barringer, CM: Frankie Fry, LW: James Denton, RW: Cristophe Demoulin, FW: Harry Weller, FW: Neal Sucking. Subs: Anton Thacker, Pete Parnwell, George Blackwell.
 
Being 2-0 after 25 minutes, that’s what can go wrong. A ball over the top caused our less than pacy back four all sorts of problems for both goals as the strikers were left with relatively easy finishes. We hadn’t played that badly really. We had showed signs of picking up after the new team came together at Mansfield and the thrashing we got against Millwall (aka East London Youth Teams XI). We knocked the ball around nicely at times, and were talking much more. The main difference in fact was that Northampton had been playing together for a while, and it was the sort of performance we will be capable of if we can keep this set of lads together. We went in at half time 2-0 down, but content as we had the wind to play with in the second half.
 
We made some formation changes in the second half, and went to a 3-5-2 system. Mark C, George and Pete making up the back 3 with Andy and James Denton playing on the left wing. Richard, Frankie and Mark B played in midfield with Neal and Harry remaining up front.
 
The changes made us more solid and we were not getting beaten so easily through the middle, however, we still lacked up anything major up front. Just as the management team were discussing the possibility of going to 3-4-3, Northampton went three nil up after around an hour. I would love to describe the goal to you, but I wasn’t watching as I was looking round wondering how to change it around again. Anyway, we made the changes. They didn’t really work and nothing much else happened. We managed a shot on goal that went high and wide, although it was a difficult chance. Annoyingly, we found out that their keeper was awful and any shots on target may go in. Still, if you don’t buy a ticket…..
 
Overall, it was a decent defensive performance, but we need to work on supporting the front players (and then chasing back afterwards!!!) so that we can have more chances to score. We communicated well, and honourable mentions must go to George on debut, Mark B, especially  giving midfield a bit of strength and Pete (sorry...Badger) on his outfield debut. 

 FINAL SCORE 3-0
 
We have two free weekends now, and then 4 games on four successive Saturdays at home against Preston (don’t ask!), Kettering, Oxford and Ebbsfleet.
 
Match Attendance: 18, 2 dogs and a guy with a guitar who must of decided playing us a tune as we trudged off to the changing rooms after the match might help – the attendance, probably an Abbey United record!
 
Mark Case
 

Abbey United 1-0 Addenbrookes, Abbey United 1-0 Marshalls, Abbey United 2-0 '1-in-4' , Abbey United 1-2 Jagex. 

Then, on Sunday 19 October, Abbey United were invited to take part in the '1-in-4 in the City' football tournament, held at Cambridge City FC. As part of this ‘1-in-4 in the City’ campaign, Cambridge City Football Club joined forces with the local mental health charity Cam-mind, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, and Cambridgeshire Community Services to host a five-a-side football tournament for local employers.
 
Abbey United performed much better than had be seen in recent weeks, winning 3 of our 4 group matches before faltering right at the last.
 
The squad was as follows: GK: Jamie Nightingale, CB: Richard French, CB: Will Horner, CM: Ben Phillips, CM: Craig Harding, FW: Jamie Bates, CB: Shane Lennon.

The tournament was graced by the appearance of former England captain and footballing legend David Beckham*. All the teams posed for photos with David before the matches (and the photos will follow in a later match report). David even came over to us after our first game and asked if he could play for us, but sadly, the organisers wouldn't allow this. *well a pretty good look-a-like anyway!

Abbey United played in the opening fixture of the tournament against a team from Addenbrookes. With the game goal-less and entering the final seconds, Abbey United counter-attacked and a long throw out from Jamie in goal sent Jamie B clear and he slotted the ball through the keepers legs. Final score, 1-0.
 
Next up, Abbey United found themselves in a match against a side representing Marshalls. This game was much more open than our first, but again Abbey United managed a 1-0 win, this time a much more lucky goal as Will turned to shoot mid way inside the opponents half and mishit the shot – but as we all turned back to concentrate back on defender the ball span when the goalkeeper went to collect in his hands, and it spun underneath him into the goal. Will didn't see it go in, and didn't believe he'd scored at first, but he had. We won the game 1-0.
 
Realising we were sitting top of our group (albeit it joint top) we knew we had a chance of reaching the final, and our third match was against the host team representing the 1-in-4 campaign. Abbey United won this match 2-0, with a goal a piece for Jamie Bates and Ben Phillips.
 
This led us onto our final match against a side representing Jagex. We knew we only needed a draw to win the group, however although we'd not conceded a goal throughout the tournament until this point, we went behind after 5 seconds. This was our toughest match and there were chances at either end but with 3 minutes left, their keeper gave the ball away from a clearance straight to Jamie Bates who made no mistake. We just needed to hold on, but were still pushing forward, and then with no more than 20 seconds to go the unthinkable happened, as we conceded again. There was no chance to get an equaliser and we lost 2-1. The defeat left us on 9 points, with Jagex winning the group on 10 points with that last minute win. Most the team went straight over to the burger fan at this point, as we'd been good and stayed away up until this point. All in all, we performed better than we'd probably expected to, and had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon out.
 
Richard French

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 Abbey United 2 Millwall Supporters Team 11 - 27 September 2008

 A Saturday free from football was on the cards, but fortunately the withdrawal symptoms were saved by the Millwall fans who had offered us a match given both sides 'proper' teams were scheduled to play on the Sunday.

It must have been a first for Abbey United this weekend. Everyone turned up ready for kick off, we were organised before the opposition and we had 5 rolling substitutes! The manager had some work to do, as once again we had no real strikers. 2 members of the old guard were back and selected to play up front, and all those who travelled to Mansfield last week were rewarded, if rewarded is the right word, with a starting place.
 
The squad was as follows: -
 
GK: Pete Parnwell, RB: Andrew Lang, LB: James Barringer, CB: Mark Case, CB: Mark Bentley, RM: Tony Tarrant, LM: James Denton, CM Frankie Fry, CM Kyle Scott, FW: Ben Yelton, FW: Mike Osbourn.
Subs: LM: Craig Harding, RM: Justin Innerarity, CM: Richard Chege, CB: Richard French, FW: Craig
 
The game kicked off with Richard French agreeing to referee the first half. His maths skills were the skills most likely to be required though. The first 20 minutes weren’t even, as such, but showed little of what was to follow. After 25 minutes the score was 1-0, however somehow by half time it was 7-0. Millwall passed the ball round quickly, and more importantly, well! It was acutely obvious that the Millwall side had been playing together for quite some time. We couldn’t get near them, they always had a spare man and even when we could get near them they pulled a trick out of the bag to pass the ball on. We didn’t communicate well, and didn’t keep to our positions as well as we should have done which helped to make their lives a little easier. These skills will come with time when we work out who is best suited to which positions and, rather less technically, when we get to know each others names properly. HALF TIME 0-7
 
At half time there were no harsh words, no rollicking, just a slight change in formation. We moved to a Jimmy Quinn style 3-5-2 to match their midfield and put one man to mark their danger man. Credit must go to James Denton for the the change at half time and doing a sterling man marking job, and for not hitting me as I kept yelling at him from the touchline to get close.
 
To say the change in formation worked would be an exaggeration and would give far too much credit to those involved in the decision, but we were certainly better than in the first half. We were quicker to the ball and making Millwall work a bit harder for their chances. On 75 minutes and at 11-0 up Millwall changed their goalkeeper, and after this we pulled 2 goals back. Firstly a well struck free kick from Frankie Fry (realising a life long dream of scoring for Cambridge) on the left hand side from around 25 yards out flew into the far corner of the goal. A comeback was on the cards. A second nearly followed soon after as Richard French progressed out of central defence to clear a loose ball, and a clearance-cum-shot volleyed from near on 50 yards was destined for the top corner before the Millwall keeper scrambled back to tip acrobatically over the bar. The second goal was from Richard Chege who hit a cross-cum-shot from the right hand side around 30 yards out, which floated over the keeper into the centre of the goal, but this was also helped by the keeper being slightly out of position.
 
FINAL SCORE 2-11
 
Now, I feel for those of you reading this report thinking ‘blimey, that Abbey United must be rubbish’, I feel it is important to point out their number 7 was playing as part of a professional youth set up last year. A collection of south London non-league clubs may well currently be bouncing around your head, but he was released, apparently, by Chelsea. Yes, you did read that correctly. It is hardly a surprise that he had little trouble skipping past me.
 
Get in touch if you feel losing on a regular basis is for you, or if you think that you could help us develop a winning mentality. Go to www.abbeyunited.co.uk to find out more.

Mark Case

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 Mansfield Town 4 Abbey United 1 - 20 September 2008

 It was the start of a bright new era for Abbey United. Quite literally, as we were wearing United’s bright yellow third strip from last year.

The day didn’t start well, leaving my directions on my sofa was not good, but thankfully, all 11 players turned up before kick off and despite the game starting on time the annoyingly picky ref decided that we were short of time and would have to play 40 minutes a half. (Now, I don’t normally moan about ref’s but this bloke seemed to have delusions of grandeur. I have no idea what level he felt he was refereeing at, but it wasn’t a friendly match between two fans teams!!)

Sadly, in a team of 11, we had no goalkeeper. One of the Mansfield lads who had just come along to watch ended up playing for us in goal and did a grand job. I would like to thank him personally, but I have no idea what his name was. There were also several new players in the squad, and the starting XI was….

GK: Mansfield bloke, RB:Jordan Worland, LB:James Barringer, CB:Mark Case, CB: Mark Bentley, RM: Andrew Lang, LM: Jack Rogers, CM: Frankie Fry, CM: Richard French, FW: Jamie Bates and FW: Kyle Scott. There was a rolling sub for the game, as Tom was the last man over, it was he who had the privileged role of watching us.

The opening goal was from a free kick. A ‘good foul’ from Jordan stopped a goal scoring opportunity, but the Mansfield player flicked the ball over the wall and into the corner. Our keeper for the day assured us that the goalscorer had never done that before in his life. Soon after, we hit Mansfield on the break and a good ball over the top was thumped home by debutant Jamie Bates. We were playing some nice football at this stage, but were struggling to communicate with each other, partly due to not knowing each others names and partly due to a slight lack in confidence in ourselves. We couldn’t hold out until half time however, and went in two one down after a mix up from the keeper and Andy saw the ball slip in to the corner of the net. HALF TIME 2-1

A slight reshuffle in the second half saw left back James move to left wing and Mark C move to left back with Jordan moving into the middle and Andy starting the second half on the bench (or on the touchline with the flag depending on how grand you want me to make it sound). Richard started at right back. The plan was to get in behind them in between their full backs and centre halves. Unfortunately, the third goal game early on in the second half and after that we were always struggling. It was probably (i.e. definitely) offside, but alas it’s not worth moaning now. We had some bright play after this, and had a few half chances but it was obvious that we didn’t have any players who would naturally call themselves ‘a striker’. With 15 minutes to go ‘Mansfield bloke’ came out of goal and Mark C went in. A willing, but not natural goalkeeper. Mansfield finished off the scoring with a header from a corner that the goalkeeper (Mark C) really should have claimed.

FINAL SCORE 4-1

The game was followed by ‘snap’ back at the local pub, (For those of you who don’t speak East Midlandsish, snap means food) and the pleasure of watching the second half of Aberdeen versus Dundee United.

Overall, it was a decent performance, considering we didn’t really know each other, didn’t have time for a proper warm up and that we didn’t have a proper goalkeeper. The new players promised to play again, and so there is something to work with for the future. We could have a game against Grays next Sunday, so if you feel Abbey United is for you, get in touch.

Mark Case

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Abbey United 2 Oxford United 0 – Saturday 22 November 2008

You could be forgiven for thinking I had made this, and the previous results up, especially if you aware of our history. I am yet to check the official Moosenet/Abbey United records, but I think this is the first time we have kept successive clean sheets!

It was a very, very, VERY cold morning as we arrived at Coldhams Common. Colder than Siberia according to a Daily Mail headline I read earlier in the day. Only a matter of time before they come over here, stealing our snow then. We only had 11 players (not having subs in these games makes it very hard!) and the midfielder's that had worked so well last weekend had to be completely changed, as Frankie and Andy were both unavailable. George came in as goalkeeper, meaning that Mark and Mark could reform their normally unsuccessful centre back partnership. Hero of the first hour last week, Lance, returned to play again at left back, seemingly with no intention to leave early to go to watch a United away game!! “Shagger” (real name James) came in for his debut.

GK: George Blackwell, RB: Richard White, LB: Lance Sharman, CB: Mark Case, CB: Mark Bentley, CM: Richard French, CM: James Munroe, LM: James Barringer, RM: Andy Lang, FW: Harry Weller, FW: Jamie Bates
Sub: FW: Jack Rogers

There was a biting wind as well as the freezing cold to deal with in the first half. Maybe we were in Siberia after all. Good football is hard enough on a normal day, but in these conditions it was near enough impossible. Every Oxford goal kick went out for a throw and every ball forward from us was too hard. The Oxford keeper made a great save form a long range shot from Jamie. We played well, considering, and had a few other half chances. The most notable action of the first half was James going down with an injury after a tackle, he hobbled off, and it was looking like we would have to play with 10, until a few minutes later Jack who had turned up late quickly got changed and we were back to eleven!

Half time 0-0.

There was no real changes to make at half time, apart from Jack going up front, and Richard moving to left wing to allow Jamie to come into the centre of midfield.

This move seemed to work eventually, but a tight start to the second half followed, as once again, each side struggled to cope with the wind and cold!

Abbey United defended well, and got their chance after an hour, Jamie hitting a low shot into the bottom corner form 20 yards. United were coping with playing against the wind a lot better than Oxford did. It was 2-0 with 15 minutes to go. A contender for goal of the season as George rolled the ball out, and Whitey played it forward. The ball went in from “Shagger” on the wing leaving Harry with a virtually open goal. Arsenal would have been proud. Well, maybe not proud exactly, but certainly envious. Oxford pressed a bit more after this, but we held on for another clean sheet.

We continue our move up the table next week, at home to Ebbsfleet, a side we beat last year, and hopefully the same set of lads that have played so well in the last couple of weeks will be there again. Abbey United, (currently) miles better than Cambridge United.