2014/15 Prediction League - Game 42 v Cambridge United (away)

[Div3North]

Cambridge United

V

Accrington Stanley

2014/15 Prediction League; Game 42 v Cambridge Utd (away)

If you’re not mathematically safe, it’s very comforting to sit in front of the tele or the PC screen and watch the five teams at the bottom of the league all lose – four of them at home, by one goal, and without scoring; indeed, only one of the bottom five did score, and that was the team which played ……….US! Happily it wasn’t a problem, and it was in the 117th minute (or some such), but a clean sheet again would be nice …….

History records, of course, that having done Fleetwood 1-0 in Round One of the FA Cup, Mansfield 1-0 away in Round Two after a Desmond at home, and Luton 2-1 at home in Round Three, Cambridge then played 180 mins against The Red Devils in Round Four, didn’t score, and made, no doubt, a tidy wedge ………..If you look further into it, history won’t record – but it’s true anyway – that of their subsequent 16 League games since they played Man U, Cambridge have won a paltry two (2-0 at Morecambe and 1-0 on Monday at the Cobblers), drawn six, and lost eight – scoring 14 (six times they scored none ) and conceding 26 ……away, W2 D3 L3, home W0 D3 L5 . Over the season to date, they’ve a record which reads P41 W12 D11 L18 GF53 GA55 for 47 points and 18th place – 3 points behind the team in 17th (with 50 points), which is ……….US! Their 53 scored in the League includes wins by 4-0 against Newport at home, 5-0 against Carlisle, and 5-1 against Oxford, and is bettered only by the top three (Burton – can anybody tell me why their keeper was yellow carded on Monday for handball outside the box, and not red-carded? (which decision allowed him to make a massive save in the dying minutes) – Shrewsbury and Wycombe, plus Stevenage, Exeter and the Cobblers (who – as I’ve already mentioned – have put 9 past us this season ); their 55 conceded has, likewise, only been exceeded by 6 teams – the Wombles, the current bottom four, and …….US! Is there a pattern developing here?

You’d be sure they’re safe, even if not technically; their last four, though, are Cheltenham (away – having lost the reverse fixture to them 2-1), Mansfield (home – first game was 0-0), Oxford (away) – the bookies have them to win by 4 lengths and a canvas – and Burton (who Cambridge beat 3-1 earlier in the season) at home; please God they don’t need anything out of that game to stay up!

At one point in their early days, their offices were seemingly in the Dog and Pheasant Pub , and their pitch was so ropey that it was affectionately known as The Celery Trenches ............ They replaced Bradford Park Avenue in the League in 1970, and by 1980 had reached Division 2, but successive relegations in 1984 and 1985 put paid to that; however, in 1990 they won the first ever (Div 4) Playoff Final at Wembley, beating Chesterfield 1-0 with a goal by Dionne Warwick .......sorry, Dion Dublin ........, and in 1991 they won the Third Division, to get back to the Second Tier. In 1991/92 they finished 5th in Div 2 (their best ever), and so entered the Playoff Scramble once again, this time the prize being the final spot in the newly-formed Premier League ............1-1 against Leicester was good; 0-5 in the return leg wasn’t so good , and out they went, their only consolation being that Blackburn – from 6th place – dumped Leicester out in the Final, thus leading to Blackburn joining the Premiership - which, as those of us who have RoversSupporters as friends know ad nauseam - they won by a fluke in 1995, a success on which they’ve been dining out now for 20 years .........Seems longer, frankly ............. In 2005 Cambridge lost their League status, but in 2013/14 their season started unbeaten in 16, and by the end they’d achieved 2nd place in the Conference, subsequently seeing off Halifax (Hello, Will Hatfield! ) and then Gateshead, both by 2-1 score lines ............. They still play at the R Costings Abbey Stadium (snappy little title ), which – from the helpful map – seems to be about equi-distant between McDonalds and Garlic Row , just off the A1134 (although it has the saving grace of being near Stanley Road! )

We beat them 2-1 at our place back in November (two by St Piero di Mingoia ), a win which the BBC described as being, “as Accrington moved towards the Playoff places” (actually we were 12th, but only 4 points behind Plymouth in 6th, and with a GD of only -3 (happy days! ); our squad that day included Rose, O’Sullivan, Gray, Simpson, Carver and Molyneux (unused sub on Monday ) .........where is the man with a wand for a left leg when you need a goalscorer .......?

They have a few on loan (so who hasn’t?); Spurs def Dominic Ball, Crawley’s forward Matt Harrold (he of the ginger hair and lots of clubs), Posh MF Nathaniel Mendez-Laing (Posh is the parent club, not an adjective ) and Palace’s FW Sully Kaikai to name but four, to whom can recently be added Hull striker Johnny Margetts (21), who got 22 minutes as a sub against Stevenage in the first game after he arrived, and hasn’t had a sniff since .......how transient is fame! They also signed, in November, Jordan Chiedozie (20) – son of John - from Concord Rangers, but he’s currently plying his trade at Dartford on loan ........Dartford are presently one point from relegation to the Vanarama National League South (yup, it’s changing names again ), and – unless their appeal succeeds, so will Nuneaton be, having been docked three points for playing a player in a League game two days after his loan period ended .............I thought only we did stuff like that ..........and anyway, how come he was still in Nuneaton?

53 League goals plus 7 more in 8 cup ties; in 33 of those 49 games they’ve either not scored at all, or got just the one .......... Leading scorers are striker Robbie Simpson (8), MF Ryan Donaldson (7), striker Tom Elliott (5) and loanee MF Sully Kaikai (4).........their stats page only adds up to 39 goals – who got the other 21 I have truly no idea!

You’ll be delighted to see that El Supremo JayCee has, just today, fired warning shots over the bows of other clubs who may come “a-poaching of our best players-o” ; indeed, he said his (his? ) League Two club are not going to be a "bargain shop" if other sides target our best players; speaking after Monday’s win, he said

"If people want to try to take our players then they have to pay the going rate. We're not in a position where we have to fire sale at the end of the season, the club is in a stable position . We're definitely going to get away from the fact that people bargain shop at Accrington. We're not going to be Aldi anymore, that’s for sure."

Well there you are. That’s a Lidl bit of good news!

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 11th April. Home straight .........Three more points confirms our safety, depending on what happens elsewhere; five points, and it’s a done deal ........

Good luck to everybody ............. Keep the Faith and chuck a Brick! (no, don’t!)........... And thanks for playing!

[Stevie R]

2-1 to Stanley please

[Wynonie Harris]

6-1 to the Stanley please.

[cashman]

1-0 Stanley fer me.

[Chimer]

You've excelled yourself with that lidl joke there boss ..... I'm all overcome and, especially as I'm hoping to see this one, think I'll go for a 3-3 cracker (Crooks 3).

[Revived Red]

1 - 1 please D3N.

[AccyMad]

2 -1 to Stanley please

[Tommy McQueen]

Cambridge 1 Stanley 3, please

[DaveinGermany]

2-1 to the Stanley please D3N.

[LongLostSon]

Cambs 4 Stanley 2

[yerself]

Cambridge United 2 - 1 Accrington Stanley, please.

[DAV007]

Accrington to win 3-1

[JIMSLAD]

Stanley 1 Cambridge 1

[football19]

Cambridge 2-1 Acci

[Outback Ozzy]

Providing the Messiah sticks with the formula of playing a team who play worse and win than a team that play brilliantly and lose 6 times out of 9 plus three draws then I will go for a 2-1 win for Stanley