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Cambridge United

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Accrington Stanley

2016/17 Prediction League; Game 11 v Cambridge (away)

You see? Two wins and you’re flying – at least, you are if they’re your first two wins of the League season ……… plumb last after 8 games, were Cambridge; 3 draws, 5 defeats and in a Spot of Bother …….. then they went to Struggling Newport (currently 92nd in the League) and went 1-0 down after 10 minutes, but two second half goals turned it round and they won ……….at last …………. Newport's new Ex- Manager Warren Feeney was very generous about taking the blame, too

• "We can't keep giving the goals we're giving away. We can work at things all week but when you cross that white line that's the disappointing thing. But listen, I take full responsibility for everything.”

“Everything”? Good grief – with a guilt trip that big it’s no wonder they sacked him! Was he accepting responsibility for the National debt? Brexit? Sam Allardyce (aka WhatAPlonker)? And why is it disappointing when you cross the white line? Anyway, they then hosted Yeovil (currently 20th) and did them 1-0, and now they’re up to 21st, and only have the second-worst goal difference in League 2 instead of the worst ……..well, if you’re not going to win the league, it’s a good idea to beat the teams around you – the six-pointers are the ones that count! And have you noticed which is the highest-placed League Two team with a negative GD? Yup, Sunny Morecambe, who’d almost made Coley’s “we’ll finish above that lot” prediction come true on Tuesday, but fluked an equaliser on 81 mins …..

Form team, then ………. Alongside Notts County and Grimsby (in 5th and 6th) they’re the only side to have won their last two ………. We nearly made it four in a row, and we’re unbeaten in five (having not won in the previous five), but when two points cover everyone from Luton in second (17 points) down to Crawley in 12th (15 points) a win is worth more than a draw – which is a truism, but nonetheless true! And, if you missed it, Piero is their joint leading scorer!

We went to the Abbey Stadium (correctly, apparently, the “Cambs Glass Stadium”) last November and won 3-2, twice coming from behind before a Josh McWindass penalty early in the second half clinched it ………..the return game was a half-Desmond (if it had been a full Desmond we’d have been promoted – or, as the BBC had it,

“Accrington lost vital ground in the League Two automatic promotion race as they were held at home by Cambridge”)

….Tariq Fosu equalising for us on 77 minutes ……..actually, since The U’s came back into the League they haven’t beaten us – 2014/15 bringing us a 2-1 home win, and a Desmond away ….P4 W2 D2 GF8 GA6 Pts 8

They were formed in 1912 – named after an area of Cambridge, not their home ground, so it seems – and turned pro in 1949; they were elected to the Football League in 1970, replacing Bradford Park Avenue, and they stayed in the league until 2005, when the slipped down the Greasy Pole back to the Conference, where they languished until 2013/14, a 2-1 win in the Playoff Final over Gateshead – having done FC Halifax Town by the same aggregate score in the semis – seeing them back in the Big Time ……….well, the Fairly Big Time …..OK, League Two …….that was also the season when Hyde Utd were relegated from the Conference with a record of 1 win (2-0 at Welling), 38 goals scored, 119 conceded, and a total of 10 points from 46 games, which included defeats by 6-2 and 8-0 against Forest Green, and 7-2 at Cambridge (which brings me neatly back on topic!)

12 of last season’s squad punted away down the River Cam over the summer, mainly to oblivion (or to non-League, which is much the same thing), although a few stayed in the League – two of their strikers (Ryan Donaldson and Jimmy Spencer) at Plymouth and a third (Robbie Simpson) at Exeter, with yet two more strikers going to Chester and Dulwich Hamlet ............. they brought in nine, two of those being Piero Mingoia and Brad Halliday, and among the others being three strikers (there’s a surprise!) – Joe Piglet (sorry, Piggott) from Charlton, Adam McGurk from Pompey and Uche Ikpeazu from Watford; MF Medy Elito (ex Colchester) signed on from (managerless – see above) Newport, as did AMF George Maris (whose potatoes I’m quite partial to) from Barnsley and LB Blair Adams from Notts County .......the spare pegs in the cloakroom have been snaffled for the time being, among others, by Reading’s FB Sean Long and BrizzleRov winger Jake Gosling who is – anyone remember, cos I’ve told you before? – Gibraltar’s all-time leading scorer, with two!

Their Foundation Phase Lead Coach is one Luke Chadwick, who started out with Man U and finished with Soham Town Rangers, and their Asst Manager is Joe Dunne, who both played for and managed Colchester Utd in recent years; notable former players, for those of my generation, include Wilf Mannion; Warren Feeney wasn’t the first managerial casualty of the season, by the way, that “honour” being won by Andy Hessenthaler at Clapton Orient, who’s been sacked more times than a coalman’s horse; in 1991/92 Cambridge would have been promoted to the First Division (aka Premiership) if they hadn’t lost 6-1 to Leicester in the playoff semi finals; their biggest League win was 7-0 against Morecambe back in April this year; their youngest ever player was (16 years 228 days when he played against Wolves); and their most expensive signing was Steve Claridge back in 1992, for whom they paid £190k .............Bring back The Football League Show, that’s what I say!

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 1st October; they’re on the up, which is nice for PieroBrad Mingoia-Halliday, but so are we ............Morecambe – once top, with 12 points from 5 games – have only taken 4 points from their next five, and are now 9th, and we need to fulfil Coley’s prediction that we’ll finish the season above them ...........we heard some crowing when they temporarily topped the table, but hasn’t it All Gone Quiet Over There? Mwahhhahaahha!

Good luck to everyone! ........... Keep the Faith! ......... And thanks for playing!