Great work by Ian Darler to beat the weather, firstly the cold that threatened a frozen pitch, then the rain which could have caused flooding. As it got closer to the stupid 5:45pm kick off the mist started to come down and not even Ian would have been able to prevent a postponement. Although it was hard to sometimes see the ball at the other end it was not bad enough to call off the game, especially as the TV cameras were there. In the past the Discovery channel always seemed to have nature or other niche interest programmes, it seems odd they should now have live UK football!
This is the first 5:45pm kick off I think I have ever attended. At least it meant I could have a proper lunch at home before leaving, but like the 12:30 matches it messes with my head for what time I have to leave home, then what time I am likely to be back again!
The late kick off meant there were plenty of final scores to read about. Could we do a Macclesfield and beat higher league opposition? Or would we get stuffed like Exeter at Man City?
Being an FA Cup match CUFC decided not to produce a programme, so most of the 2 hours before kick off Gina and I were explain to fans that there was no programme! Being able to buy a Grimsby programme for £2 was scant consolation, but quite a few collectors did buy. Perhaps the poster of Kachunga was what did it! Usually the programmes are kept and a cover page added for the re-arranged game, but I suspect that will take time to arrange and the info will be too out of date, so a new programme will be produced.
Starting line up: Eastwood in goal, a back 4 of Bennett, Rossi and Jobe and Gibbons, Brophy, Ball, Hoddle, Knight, Mpanzu in the middle, Appere up front. No-one seemed to know what had happened to Watts.
5 minutes in and there was a scoreboard error which showed Brum had scored! This resulted in the Brum fans singing “how shit must you be, we’re winning away”! The error was quickly corrected, their new song became “we want our goal back”!
U’s started the better attacking the Brum fans in the South Stand (The South Habbin area empty) with Bennett shooting from a tight angle straight at their keeper. Then some U’s pressure saw a couple of penalty appeals waved away before the ball was crossed into their area and it fell for Knight to shoot from around 15 yards but the ball went a foot or so over the bar.
After the early pressure Brum got into the game and started to look dangerous, and they took the lead on 30 minutes, when firstly a shot was blocked, the rebound fell for Wagner to shoot towards the bottom corner but the ball hit a defender and deflected into the opposite corner. 0-1.
11 minutes later and the score was doubled when a long ball from their defence was not dealt with by Rossi and Furuhashi nipped in to speed on goal and score. 0-2.
Half time: 0-2 50/50 ticket #11847 won £480.
U’s almost conceded a third goal when the dangerous Furuhashi was found in space, he lobbed the ball over Eastwood and saw it graze the outside of the post and go out.
Knight had a shot go a yard over from just inside their area, soon after he had another shot blocked. He is not afraid to have a go.
Our defence were caught out again to allow a diving header which was straight to Eastwood.
Lavery and Kaikai came on for Ball and Brophy on 62 minutes, 20 minutes later Purrington and McLoughlin replaced Mpanzu and Gibbons.
We know 2-0 is a dangerous score, if we could have got a goal it would have made for an interesting end to the game, but that went out the window on 77 minutes when a poor clearance from Rossi went to a Brum player who quickly passed to the unmarked Ducksch just inside our penalty area who shot into the goal at the far post. 0-3.
However a Harris team does not give up, and some good play down the right saw Appere get deep into their penalty area. He needed help from a defender who presented the ball to Kaikai to shoot home on 79 minutes. 1-3.
At last U’s were moving the ball quickly, finding players in space, getting in dangerous crosses and causing problems. Brum resorted to timewasting and fouling, and from a free kick we got another goal, a deep cross was headed back by Jobe for Kaikai to strike powerfully past the keeper from 15 yards. 2-8 after 88 minutes.
In the 5 minutes of added time came the last chance, another free kick headed just wide of the post by Purrington.
Final score 2-3.
Seven months ago we were in the same division, but at different ends, and in truth we were leagues apart. But in that last game we only lost by a single goal.
The stats show a fairly even match, we had 12 shots of which 5 were on target, they had 10 and 5. We managed 34 touches in their box to their 16 which is surprising, and Brum never won a corner!
Surprisingly we didn’t try to out muscle the Brum players, in fact they seemed to be stronger. The referee did us no favours either, but was not the reason we lost
In lower leagues defenders are less likely to be punished for their mistakes, but not with quick players like Furuhashi who was always looking to run into space
We could have defended better. The first was a bit unfortunate as a deflection off Jobe sent the ball in the opposite direction, but that all came from a weak defensive header.
The phrase “don’t let the ball bounce” is one taught to kids, but Rossi let the ball bounce instead of clearing and that allowed Furuhashi to take the ball off him and score. Rossi was again at fault when a pass out was wayward to give away possession from which they scored the 3rd goal.
If Morrison had been fully fit he would have been in the starting line up, but coming back from injury was a risk Neil Harris decided not to take. We’ll never know if that was the wrong decision!
For most of the game Mpanzu was up front around Appere. It was not a position that suited him as he rarely got the ball. When Lavery came on he dropped back and did better. Brophy had a game to forget, he seems to have forgotten he is allowed to shoot as he passed when in a good position with the goal in his sights.
Kaikai made such a difference when he came on. Holding the ball, getting past defenders and of course scoring the best goal of the game. Bennett also had a great game, defending well and causing problems at the other end with some good crosses.
We exit the FA Cup beaten, but we put up a fight and at the end Brum we relieved to hear the final whistle.
Our unbeaten run has ended, so we’ll forget the cup and concentrate on the League where we still have a 10 match unbeaten run to continue away at Fleetwood next weekend, where we will look to retain our position in the play offs.
Come on you U’s.