Fleetwood 0-2 U's: 138 Points Here We Come

@julianroberts3 reports on what - on paper at least - was looking like a tricky trip to Fleetwood. But Marky Bonner's Super U's soon put paid to all that...

Don’tgetcarriedawaydon’tgetcarriedawaydon’tgetcarriedawaydon’tgetcarriedawaydon’tgetcarriedawaydon’tgetcarriedawaydon’tgetcarriedawaydon’tgetcarriedawaydon’tgetcarriedawaydon’tgetcarriedawaydon’tgetcarriedaway…

Alright, get carried away just a little bit.

It’s actually quite difficult to write your thoughts up on a game like that. To have any sort of analytical thoughts after what was such a brilliant afternoon is, for this writer at least, very tricky. Because on Saturday we were, to a man, brilliant. Absolutely outstanding. You could pick 11 players out and make a case for them being man of the match. The only real question mark is whether that was our most complete away performance since returning to League One.

Fleetwood are, on the pitch, a very decent side. Their campaign last year showed that, and while early on in the season they flirted with the bottom 6 that we were to become so accustomed to, the signings of Marriott and Stockley for a combined £500k rocketed them up the division, finishing in a comfortable mid-table in the end.

The other thing they were known for last season was taking points at home off the league’s big hitters - none of Plymouth or Ipswich managed to win here in the league, and both QPR and Sheffield Wednesday were knocked out in the cup in what were minor, although legitimate, cupsets.

It’s rightly called a tough place to go. Even tougher when they’re looking for their first win of the season, playing at home for the first time, with the U’s facing a long trip up in between two Tuesday games.

But they were all phenomenal. The first 15 minutes we surrendered a lot of the possession to Fleetwood, allowing them almost 80% of the ball for that period. It felt like we didn’t have any control of the game, and we didn’t, but we restricted them to a total of 0 chances. And it played into our hands perfectly. Our high, aggressive press was notable in its effectiveness, and after directly leading to Ahadme missing a 1 on 1 that should have had us one up, only minutes later it did lead to our first.

Danny Andrew pressing high and nicking the ball, before playing it quickly to Janneh who alongside messers Ahadme and Lankester wasted no time in getting up the pitch. It was another unpredictable shot from Janneh leading to the keeper parrying it right into Paul Digby’s path. A goal on both his 100th and 150th United appearance - his 200th could well be one of the final games of the season as he rockets us to the play-offs… anyway, I’m getting distracted.

It’s a goal that was a near carbon copy of the first at Oxford, and the second took a similar route to the second in that game too. By this point we were miles the better team, creating a really high quality of chance time after time, executing our game plan perfectly.

The second came from a corner where the referee seemingly took an age telling Thomas to move the ball back by an inch or two. He agreed, and proceeded to swing the ball straight onto Gassan Ahadme’s noggin to tuck home his second of the season, and our second of the game.

The rest of the game played out with minor cause for concern - Stevens making one good save down to his left from Marriott, and then a header from substitute Omechere smacking the crossbar in injury time.

Two wins from two, four goals, zero conceded, it’s hard to imagine a better start. In all seriousness, we should take last summer as a lesson and not get too carried away at such an early stage - we all know now what a few injuries can do and what a few losses in a row can do to the mood.

But right this second, before Steve Evans comes into the picture, do have a look at that league table and just enjoy it.

Man of The Match: Ryan Bennett. An absolute rock in the centre of the defence. But you could pick anyone from Stevens to Ahadme really.

Soundtrack of the Match: Fleet Foxes - Someone You'd Admire

Unsung Hero: James Brophy: Two yellow cards in two games for dissent.