Camb Utd scorefred sponsored by Lockdowns's over.

[Tippy Tappy Football]

A much needed win. The Stags started really well for the first ten minutes but then started giving the ball away unnecessarily especially when Cambridge pressed us. Cambridge ended up being the better team in the first half. However the Stags were the better team in the 2nd half and we looked very good at times on the counter attack. We ought to have scored more goals. Jamie Reid and Harry Charsley should have scored before Reid gave us the lead and then Charsley should have played in Jordan Bowery. Cambridge huffed and puffed but they could not build up any real pressure and only threatened around 79-80 minutes when Kellan Gordon lost possession on the edge of the area and Joe Ironside shot straight at Stech and Paul Mullin hit that great 25 yard shot which was brilliantly saved by Stech.

I thought our best players were Jamie Reid, Marek Stech, Rollin Menayese and Ollie Clarke (2nd half). I'd probably give the Man of the Match to Jamie Reid for being lively and a threat up front all night. He controlled and held the ball well and looked like he might score from nothing. I've always liked how he looks to get shots off quickly and he might have banged one in early on. He should have scored from Ollie Clarke's run and cross in the 2nd half. I was really pleased when he scored as he really deserved it. It was a great finish as well. I was surprised that Nigel Clough took him off as he was still going strong and causing problems. Nicky Maynard did not do that well when he came on as a sub and did not provide any extra energy as a sub. He also gave the ball away three or four times. I would bring Tyrese Sinclair on for the last 5-10 minutes as he will chase balls put in behind and in the corners; and win free kicks up the pitch.

Marek Stech made four saves and two of them were match winners. We still generally lose possession though when he kicks the ball up the pitch.

Rollin Menayese had a very good game in defence and attacked the ball well in the air and kept getting a foot in when necessary. I was worried when he lost control of the ball and dived in for the tackle on Boateng and ended up on a yellow card but he kept his head and made a great block in the 2nd half. Ryan Sweeney and him had a good battle with Paul Mullin and Joe Ironside and they must take the plaudits with Stech for a clean sheet against the league's top scorer. The Cambridge commentators described Menayese after the game as "a brute of a defender" but it was said as a compliment. Ryan Sweeney also did well and won lots of headers as he normally does.

Kellan Gordon made a couple of errors and gave the ball away too much again but he is one of our main weapons going forward. I counted 9 possible goalscoring opportunities for the Stags and he was involved in 5 of them. I didn't think Mal Benning played as well tonight and thought he was better against Harrogate and Dagenham. He made a couple of mistakes in the first half and lost Hannant a few times.

Ollie Clarke gave the ball away too much in the first half but he had a very good second half. His passing was much better in the second half and he constantly made some good interceptions around our area to stop attacks. Harry Charsley and George Lapslie also had much better second halfs and both were involved in the goal. Charsley got the assist and should also have scored a goal. I was a little disappointed with George Maris. He was our most accurate passer again and he made a terrific last ditch tackle in the first half but he needed to try and make more forward passes. The Cambridge pundits said that Maris was better in an attacking midfield role for them although he could do a job as a defensive midfield player.

.....and finally the enigma that is Jordan Bowery. The forward who plays everywhere except up front . He worked really hard again and twice showed some great pace - charging back to cover in defence and bombing down the left wing! He spent a lot of time dropping back to cover in front of the full backs when we lost the ball leaving Jamie Reid on his own up front. You cannot fault his work rate and he's doing a good job for the team at the moment I'd just like to see him running more at defenders and banging off a few shots at goal that have the keeper worried. It looks like Jordan and Jamie have got the shirts now so let's hope they both push on.

COYS!!

[Curry 9 Brace 7]

Reid will get a few goals if he gets a run in the team, Nigel will see to that. He scored loads at Torquay. I think the goals are the same size down there.

[bellwhiff]

Had to go to bed at 70 mins as an early start today. What a brilliant start to Thursday.

Phenomenal result. Absolutely superb.

How did you manage that? I struggle to get to sleep after a night game, I'm either too hyped up after a win or too angry after a defeat to sleep.

I need dull 1-1 draws in midweek.

I’m proper OCD and told myself that if I checked the scores before the alarm fired, I’d jinx it.

[gazza1988]

Reid will get a few goals if he gets a run in the team, Nigel will see to that. He scored loads at Torquay. I think the goals are the same size down there.

Here's a throwback for some of the older members. Maybe he needed time to adjust to the altitude

[Tippy Tappy Football]

It can take time for some players to settle in at a club especially if they are not from the area and are not playing regularly. A player who has scored as many goals as Jamie Reid has in non-league clearly has plenty of ability. I'm sure there would be lots of interest from other League 2 clubs and National League clubs if he was available on loan. Let's hope he can keep scoring and get a good run in the team.

[Sneag]

Had to go to bed at 70 mins as an early start today. What a brilliant start to Thursday.

Phenomenal result. Absolutely superb.

How did you manage that? I struggle to get to sleep after a night game, I'm either too hyped up after a win or too angry after a defeat to sleep.

I need dull 1-1 draws in midweek.

I’m proper OCD and told myself that if I checked the scores before the alarm fired, I’d jinx it.

I love the way a football fan's mind works.

[STAGS FOR LIFE]

What a good night and great to snatch the win and 3 points .

Have we got someone new in the Stagsnet Christmas department ,the trimmings are up , Great Work

[Dan]

Cook on for Charsley

Cook Maynard at last.

Didn’t do much did they?

[Dan]

Brilliant 3 points.

Thought Menayesse played VERY well, did everything that was asked of him.

Couple of fantastic saves by Marek as well.

I don't know what Charsley was thinking with that 5 on 3 situation, he's simply got to square it again, but overall I don't care.

Thought Bowery was very good again. I hope fans start to appreciate him more.

Battling win and a clean sheet away from home to one of the divisions high flyers.

Doesn't get any better than that.

Never going to happen on here.

[lifestags]

Just want to make a point of how good Charsley has been for us, hes clearly a centre mid and is a square peg in a round hole but works his socks off and is chipping in with assists and goals.

Negative note as no one will say it on here as his name isnt Bowery but Maynard was shocking when he came on last night, had it 3 times, lost it 3 times.

[Rob]

Just want to make a point of how good Charsley has been for us, hes clearly a centre mid and is a square peg in a round hole but works his socks off and is chipping in with assists and goals.

Negative note as no one will say it on here as his name isnt Bowery but Maynard was shocking when he came on last night, had it 3 times, lost it 3 times.

I think Maynard is fighting for 3rd and 4th choice, I am not sure he is the manager's type and suspect this will be the focus of his attention in January.

[bear 73]

Well i have just sat through what pundits would call a perfect away performance, and cannot believe what our fans saw =Clough doesn't know his best team=the team is all over the shop=
We are to compact=Losing midfield battle=squad has no quality=Sweeney not very good=Bowery poor= they are clueless= Reid is anonymous= no threat from midfield= a very= average midfield= wouldn't score in a month of Sundays= to name some wonderful respectable comment on a game where we were in the bottom 2 playing a club that has rested over the weekend not lost at home, and had fans back, So after playing 120 minutes only on sunday putting us in round 3 of the F_A cup carrying injury's.
Stech was sound, i was pleased with both full backs defending and also being part of our attack, The two central defenders playing together for the first time were imminence, our midfield was full of running left little space for them to exploit, and had the ability to take player on and not just look for a easy side way pass , Bowery one of the best hold up players i have seen even counting the championship, priceless just to hold it long enough bringing other players into play, Reid made is presence felt and scored the vital goal even Cooke came on to shore up the win after we had reduced them to long balls into the box Maynard came on with his dodgy ham string and gave them something to think about, and we saw out the game better than we have been doing, Elation is a good word and im still elated, What i fail to see is most important and that is what players do off the ball, and in a team that is vital.
And now some will think Sat is easy FORGET IT if we get 3-0 up then i will relax. Brilliant result stags

[Billy the fish]

Brilliant 3 points.

Thought Menayesse played VERY well, did everything that was asked of him.

Couple of fantastic saves by Marek as well.

I don't know what Charsley was thinking with that 5 on 3 situation, he's simply got to square it again, but overall I don't care.

Thought Bowery was very good again. I hope fans start to appreciate him more.

Battling win and a clean sheet away from home to one of the divisions high flyers.

Doesn't get any better than that.

Never going to happen on here.

Bowery should have been played in for a free run on goal near the end instead our midfielder ( think lapslie) shot well over when Bowery was free screaming for the ball ..

[Sedgwick]

Brilliant 3 points.

Thought Menayesse played VERY well, did everything that was asked of him.

Couple of fantastic saves by Marek as well.

I don't know what Charsley was thinking with that 5 on 3 situation, he's simply got to square it again, but overall I don't care.

Thought Bowery was very good again. I hope fans start to appreciate him more.

Battling win and a clean sheet away from home to one of the divisions high flyers.

Doesn't get any better than that.

Never going to happen on here.

Bowery should have been played in for a free run on goal near the end instead our midfielder ( think lapslie) shot well over when Bowery was free screaming for the ball ..

Charsley that, twice he had a good chance from the edge of the box, one skied instead of feeding in Bowrey and the other was blocked. Thought we looked dangerous going forward

[bobbystagsfan]

That's twice it happened to Bowery now, it wasn't long ago when Maynard should have played Bowery when he was in nearly an identical position to last night.

[one f in mansfield]

https://www.cambridge-united.co.uk/news ... mansfield/

Honest summary from Cambridge manager. Think a few other managers would have made a lot more of it only being a yellow card for the tackle that led to their player getting injured.

[MTFCMusings]

[bellwhiff]

Well i have just sat through what pundits would call a perfect away performance, and cannot believe what our fans saw =Clough doesn't know his best team=the team is all over the shop=
We are to compact=Losing midfield battle=squad has no quality=Sweeney not very good=Bowery poor= they are clueless= Reid is anonymous= no threat from midfield= a very= average midfield= wouldn't score in a month of Sundays= to name some wonderful respectable comment on a game where we were in the bottom 2 playing a club that has rested over the weekend not lost at home, and had fans back, So after playing 120 minutes only on sunday putting us in round 3 of the F_A cup carrying injury's.
Stech was sound, i was pleased with both full backs defending and also being part of our attack, The two central defenders playing together for the first time were imminence, our midfield was full of running left little space for them to exploit, and had the ability to take player on and not just look for a easy side way pass , Bowery one of the best hold up players i have seen even counting the championship, priceless just to hold it long enough bringing other players into play, Reid made is presence felt and scored the vital goal even Cooke came on to shore up the win after we had reduced them to long balls into the box Maynard came on with his dodgy ham string and gave them something to think about, and we saw out the game better than we have been doing, Elation is a good word and im still elated, What i fail to see is most important and that is what players do off the ball, and in a team that is vital.
And now some will think Sat is easy FORGET IT if we get 3-0 up then i will relax. Brilliant result stags

Welcome to Stagsnet

[NorthLondonStag]

Well i have just sat through what pundits would call a perfect away performance, and cannot believe what our fans saw =Clough doesn't know his best team=the team is all over the shop=
We are to compact=Losing midfield battle=squad has no quality=Sweeney not very good=Bowery poor= they are clueless= Reid is anonymous= no threat from midfield= a very= average midfield= wouldn't score in a month of Sundays= to name some wonderful respectable comment on a game where we were in the bottom 2 playing a club that has rested over the weekend not lost at home, and had fans back, So after playing 120 minutes only on sunday putting us in round 3 of the F_A cup carrying injury's.
Stech was sound, i was pleased with both full backs defending and also being part of our attack, The two central defenders playing together for the first time were imminence, our midfield was full of running left little space for them to exploit, and had the ability to take player on and not just look for a easy side way pass , Bowery one of the best hold up players i have seen even counting the championship, priceless just to hold it long enough bringing other players into play, Reid made is presence felt and scored the vital goal even Cooke came on to shore up the win after we had reduced them to long balls into the box Maynard came on with his dodgy ham string and gave them something to think about, and we saw out the game better than we have been doing, Elation is a good word and im still elated, What i fail to see is most important and that is what players do off the ball, and in a team that is vital.
And now some will think Sat is easy FORGET IT if we get 3-0 up then i will relax. Brilliant result stags

Bear, I made one of those comments and your post is I think a little unfair on those that commented on what they saw in the game.

In the first half an hour of the game (although I actually didn't watch the first 15 minutes) the general consensus was that we were playing poorly and we commented as much as we were watching it. There's nothing wrong with that if that's what we saw and what we wanted to say. I commented that, as I saw it, the midfield was not coming forward properly and that Bowery and Reid were isolated when they had the ball. Sedgwick (I believe) agreed. We played better, went on to win and then I celebrated the result, which largely came (in my view, for what it's worth) from a much better second half performance.

If we want to encourage debate on here then 'hindsight' posts (win or lose) of what people commented at a point in time during a game is not conducive to a debate and an exchange (for the most part) of genuinely held views. Different of course from some OTT comments or statements of general uselessness that are sometimes made around individual performances or incidents!

[bear 73]

Just making the point are we positive or negative, if we want players to be confident and express them selves then mistakes will be made, its how they react to the mistake that is important
Second half both Central defenders on yellow cards tough call for the manager, shows faith in the players and it makes the the ability to keep a clean sheet so much harder, but trust in them
must have meant a lot. The defence- mid field-attack over the 100 minutes made for a great away win, Games now are a squad game, Clough expects goals to come from all over the park, and wants to defend as a team and attack as a team. And my point is until you can look at the full game its hard to judge a players performance, No posters were mentioned, and opinions noted, just a overall look at how things can change over 90 minutes.

[NorthLondonStag]

Fair points Bear about positive v negative and thanks for response.
My point was as much that some of the commentary during the game is interesting to people on here, which is why I often watch the game on one screen and look at Stagsnet on the other. I get other peoples perspective as well as mine and the commentators.
Also some people don’t or can’t listen to or watch the game and I expect they might like to see how people are seeing it.
So Midfield too compact might be ‘negative’, but it’s an interesting point and we can’t be restricted to making points after the game or else we can’t comment during or else no one would post for fear of being ‘wrong’ after the event.
I accept there can be too much negativity or over-reaction to poor spells but I try and avoid that (if I can!) - I predicted we’d win the league in the prediction thread....

[daddycool]

Just want to make a point of how good Charsley has been for us, hes clearly a centre mid and is a square peg in a round hole but works his socks off and is chipping in with assists and goals.

Negative note as no one will say it on here as his name isnt Bowery but Maynard was shocking when he came on last night, had it 3 times, lost it 3 times.

Was on for 3 minutes

[Conker]

Maynard definitely was not on long enough to judge him ‘shocking’ lol.

[lifestags]

he didnt do the job he was asked to do ie hold it up, instead kept losing the ball. If that was Bowery we would not hear the last of it.

[Sedgwick]

he didnt do the job he was asked to do ie hold it up, instead kept losing the ball. If that was Bowery we would not hear the last of it.

He was on three minutes.....