8 Things We Learned On Opening Day

Early days but early optimism: a summary of Saturday's curtain-raiser

Opening day! The most anticipated date on the footballing calendar finally rolled around last Saturday and it was everything we hoped it would be. A walk down Coldham's Common met the ever-stunning view of Ian Darler’s beautiful Abbey lawn, and ninety minutes of prime (maybe for the newer U’s fans, unfamiliar) League Two football ensued.

Diagonal balls, someone’s dad screaming expletives over your shoulder, the odd whiff of a greasy burger and a howl of “oles” meeting the opposition’s every misfortune certainly scratched that itch we have all been feeling all summer. Football is back.

Perhaps I was alone in thinking this, but I went into the game with a slight sense of relief that, as a fanbase, the League One mindset was behind us. Weeks of hoping we wouldn’t have to watch our goalkeeper pluck balls out of his net time and time again was replaced by some sort of ‘big fish’ mentality having just been relegated. Obviously, this is the Football League, and we all know that that often means absolutely nothing – but the feeling was nice for a change, alright?

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In a game that pretty much epitomised everything that League Two is infamous for, United ran out 1-0 winners thanks to a second half poacher’s dream of a winner by new #9 Louis Appere (who, if we don’t now dedicate a ‘Si Senor’ chant to, I will be bitterly disappointed).

I don’t think it would be unfair to say that we were by a comfortable enough margin the better side, playing with a gameplan that satisfied a lot of fans’ expectations of a Neil Harris side in League Two. Without jumping to any conclusions whatsoever, here are my main takeaways from a typically eventful opening week in CB5 and beyond.