Welcome to this week’s U’s-letter everyone. I’m sure, like me, you’ve spent all week basking in the glow of a home win and a clean sheet. It really does make everything feel better and gives you that extra pep and buzz to look forward to the next few games. That win made it two home wins on the spin in all competitions, and throughout the season so far we’ve won three and drawn one at home - a pretty decent foundation to be building the season on.
But as we’ve said a few times, our fixture list looks, on the face of it, to be very kind early in the season, so we need to be making the most of these early season games to rack up some points. We’ve got another chance to do that this weekend when a still winless Oldham come to town. You’ll have a preview pod and a written match preview in the next 24 hours to give you some proper insight into what to expect from the game, but for now we can cast our eye back on the week that was.
It’s a slightly shorter newsletter this week as I (Jules) have been away in Norway. That meant I had the unique experience of watching the game on my phone while driving through some towering fjords. Maybe the only person in a few hundred mile radius concentrating more on a Kell Watts header than the glaciers above. Priorities.
What’s New? 📰
The date for Fulham away in the Carabao has been confirmed as Tuesday 22nd. Tickets are on sale for season ticket holders now as we aim to fill the 2700 capacity away end.
Adam Mayor signed for the U’s on deadline day, a player that Harris described as an “old school winger”. He played at this level last year for Bromley without overly impressing, but now he’s linking up with his former boss at Millwall which hopefully will count for something.
And in the other direction, pod favourite Lofty has gone out on loan for a season at Crawley.
Shayne Lavery is very, very close to being back in the matchday squad, having been in training this week.
At The Match ✍️
U’s 2-0 Newport: Can’t Complain - By Freddie Owers
It was a comfortable Saturday afternoon for the U's as they won 2-0 against Newport County at the Abbey Stadium.
Goals from Kell Watts and James Brophy were enough to see off a Newport side who posed little to no threat, and look set to struggle this season.
I don’t think I will be doing anybody a misjustice by saying that the first half was extremely bare of anything that resembled an entertaining football match. Diagonal balls, half-chances and cheap fouls made up the bulk of the opening 35 minutes, as myself and those around be yearned for at least a cheap set piece to go our way.
As half-time grew near, our wishes were granted as we were awarded our first corner of the game. A teasing Kaikai delivery was met in the air by Watts who nodded home his first ever U's goal to put United a goal ahead.
Despite a lack of creativity, the performance going into half-time had been assured, a sense of consistency about it that we are getting nicely familiar with under Neil Harris.
Newport's only real chance came just after the break when a wayward Thomas Davis effort was flicked on by Anthony Glennon at point blank range, forcing a smart but routine stop by Jake Eastwood.
After a comfortable 20 minutes of possession and trying to fashion a second, United would put the game to bed with fifteen minutes to go when a Kylian Kouassi effort crashed off the post into the path of Brophy, who was on hand to slot home his fourth of the season and double the U's advantage.
United defended sturdily to earn a second victory of the week, carrying on the positive momentum from our midweek victory over Charlton in the EFL Cup.
My main takeaway from Saturday is that seeing us able to come into games as favourites and play the game out as such is something we shouldn't take for granted. It’s testament to the mentality that Harris has instilled in the players, and will go a long way to ensuring we earn a league position representative of everybody's efforts.
Onto Oldham!
This week on the Coconut Tier…
Some recent written and audio content for our Coconut Tier legends. You’ll also get a written match preview of Oldham tomorrow, looking at the key data points to watch out for courtesy of resident statistician Ben Griffis. All of this for just £5 a month:
View From The Away End 🧐
Newport County - 1912 Exiles
I was looking forward to the game on Saturday as it was surprisingly my first visit to the Abbey. It turned out to be like many away games recently, a good day spoilt by the football.
Despite the football very much enjoyed the visit, the walk to the ground up the river for a pre match pint is surely unrivalled in the football league and the ground had a real olde worlde charm to it (with surprising addition of cows grazing outside the away end!). Slightly strange set up with the stand to our right about 10 yards away from the pitch (assume this is to do with planned redevelopment) but great to see proper old school floodlights.
The game itself was a disappointment, and I can't imagine fans of either team will be thinking back fondly to it later in the season. As I walked back into town after the match, I reflected that neither keeper hardly had a save to make, a cross to catch or any real goalmouth action. The game seemed ponderously stuck between the two boxes.
I expected more from Cambridge as they had dispatched Charlton in the League Cup during the week, but you converted the few chances created and deserved the win. The less said about the Newport performance the better, insipid perhaps summed it up. Special pantomime villain shout out to your No 14 who had a fabulous ability to fall over every time he felt a breath of wind coming off the Cam.
Everything about the set up at the Abbey was good, it's a welcoming place and I really enjoyed visiting. Couple of tips would be to have some more staff on in the away bar and for stewards to know where the ticket office is. Other than that, it's a ground I'll hopefully look forward to returning to. All the best for the season.
FANCY BEATING US AT EFL FANTASY? CLICK BELOW TO JOIN 👇
Opposition Preview 🔮
Oldham Athletic (H) - 19th place - Saturday 6th September
Last 5 (all comps): LDDLD - Still winless is the headline, but that doesn’t tell anywhere near the full story - the two games they’ve lost have only been by one goal, including holding favourites MK at their own place to a 0-0 draw on opening day.
Last time out: Oldham 2-4 U’s, 13 March 2021. Another legendary game in the lockdown legends promotion season, made memorable by Luke Hannant scoring directly from a corner in a comeback win.
Our H2H: P31, W7, D12, L12
Manager: Micky Mellon. A solid manager at this level and took them up last year through the play-offs.
One to watch: Mike Fondop. Hasn’t got off the mark this year yet but netted 17 times for them last season.
Former U’s players: Luke Hannant and Billy Waters.
Subscribe to The Coconut Tier to get:
📚At least one article like this every week
🎧Bonus podcast content every month
👕First dibs on upcoming merch drops
And you can show off to your mates that you support UTAS and you’re not a round dodger.
Under The Other Stands 🏟️
Gills are still top, as they were this time last year under Bonner, and this time the year before under Harris. Incredible.
Bottom of the league Cheltenham aren’t having a good time on the pitch, and off it it’s been revealed their boss Michael Flynn is washing the kits.
Five teams remain winless, the bottom four and our upcoming opponents Oldham. And two teams are still unbeaten, top of the league Gillingham and surprise package Bromley in 3rd.
Stats Corner 🔢
It’s been covered a few times, but every away time in League Two went in as underdogs. Six of them won, and three of them drew. Just shows how entirely unpredictable this division is.
In Case You Missed It 🧐
Connor Wickham banged one in from the halfway line for a free agent XI.
Ex-U’s legend Steve Claridge has got a new gig as manager of Weymouth. And a new trim it seems.
Some classic non-league goalkeeping at Wealdstone this week. The silent crowd reaction makes it.
Thanks for reading this week’s U’s-letter. Send us any comments or suggestions to include in next week’s issue to: hello@undertheabbeystand.com