Fleetwood 1-2 United: 17th January 2026

Finding a way

When Sullay Kaikai stood over a free-kick in the 30th minute of Saturday’s game at Fleetwood, it had already been an eventful afternoon for the winger.

In the opening exchanges, playing in a floating role behind Appéré and supporting Brophy down the left-hand side, he’d been at the heart of everything United were doing. With the U’s dominating virtually all of the ball, Kaikai had taken up the challenge of being the difference-maker in the final third. That should firstly have resulted in a penalty, unfairly dismissed by the referee when he was through on goal. He continued relentlessly buzzing around the box, picking up scraps from corners and turning them into half-chances. And, eventually, it was returning a one-two with Brophy that led to Kaikai standing at the end of his free-kick run-up, waiting for the referee’s whistle.

When it came, the number 11 curled in a sumptuous, near-perfect strike to open the scoring. The quality of the goal was befitting of a player who in recent weeks has shown every ounce of his ability at this level. He is a game-changer, a difference-maker, someone who might float in and out of games at times but when he has the ball at his feet in the final third driving at defenders, he gets you out of our seat. You’d do well to just imagine how opposition fans must be feeling in those moments. There are surely not many better at this level. In short, he is becoming, as many might define it, ‘a cheat code’.

With one strike on Saturday, he summarised that all pretty well. That the free kick bounced off the underside of the bar, onto the floor and then up into the roof of the net deserves its own mention: a rare but glorious sight.

And on the day, it was the least United deserved. Having dominated the ball in the first half to an extent we have rarely seen Harris’ U’s do (the 63% possession stat not feeling even enough compared to the eye test), the only criticism would have been to only be going into the break one goal to the good. Kaikai himself had a chance to double his and United’s tally, when minutes after the free-kick Brophy found him from the left-hand side with a perfectly weighted ball for SK to run onto about 10 yards out, but in looking to direct it only managed to place it over the right-hand post.