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The story of a truly unforgettable 4-0 defeat

The last couple of times tonight’s visitors Stevenage have been largely frustrating for various reasons, but one game in early 2020 stands out in particular, as Colin Calderwood's U's utterly capitulated to a dreadful Stevenage side. @vinylperez takes up the story.

The history books will show that it was the 4-0 defeat by Salford a couple of weeks later that drew the curtain on Colin Calderwood's time in charge of the U's, but realistically the seeds were sown earlier in the month as bottom-of-the-league Stevenage won at the Abbey by the same scoreline.

United stood 16th in the table, but hadn't won't all month by the time Stevenage came to town. The U's were missing key player Samir Carruthers - dropped for personal reasons - but George Taft had recently returned following his absence after an incident at the club Christmas party. Pressure was mounting on Calderwood after some poor results over the Xmas period including a 4-0 Boxing Day mauling by Swindon, and a 3-2 home defeat to Orient the week before.

Stevenage on the other hand hadn't won in 11 games, and had only scored three goals during that time. Nailed to the foot of the table, they looked as good as relegated, and what better fixture for the U's to turn around their current bad form.

United held out for 36 minutes until Elliot List broke the deadlock, and minutes after Liam O'Neil was denied a stonewall penalty, earning himself a yellow card for diving. So far, so bad, but worse was to come in the second half.

In front of the Newmarket Road End Stevenage ran riot - three further goals from Jake Cassidy plus Charlies Carter and Lakin condemned United to a heavy defeat, and turned the atmosphere toxic. Stevenage cut through our defence like a hot knife through butter, and the U's were equally inept in attack. Not even the introduction of Andrew Dallas could turn the tide, and it's a surprise that the visitors didn't score more.

As boos rang out on the final whistle the feeling was very much that Calderwood (who had signed a 2 year contract extension in September, in the face of interest from Leyton Orient) was on borrowed time. A draw at new bottom club Morecambe followed by another absolutely toothless home 4-0 defeat against Salford on the Tuesday night meant it was time for Calderwood to go, replaced by caretaker manager Mark Bonner in time for the visit of Colchester on the Saturday, and we all know how that turned out...