U's 1-1 Wycombe: It Could Have Been So Easy
U's 1-1 Wycombe: It Could Have Been So Easy
Points shared on Tuesday, which sees United forced to take the relegation battle down to the final day
On Tuesday night, standing in the abnormal April cold, watching Macauley Bonne spurn a chance from 6 yards out, I just couldn’t help but think: “it didn’t need to be this way”.
It’s impossible to shake the feeling that Cambridge United always do it the hard way. Maybe every fan of every club says that, but for us more than others it just seems in recent memory that every time we have something to confirm, promotion, play offs or relegation, we manage to make the job far more difficult than it should be. That trip to Harrogate in League 2? The trip to Burton last year? Even losing to Halifax in the first leg of the Conference semi-final, if you cast your mind that far back, made things incredibly tricky for ourselves.
It’s probably more common than we realise amongst other clubs. The pressure of getting over the line can get to players, and when you get to April (more commonly and affectionately known as ‘silly season’) strange results start appearing all over the place. But Tuesday night’s, in isolation, wasn’t so strange.
In fact, it was a pretty hard-worked point. Wycombe came into the game 3rd of the away form table, 6th of the overall one, and looking to make it four wins in a row. They were met with a team sheet that baffled, confused, and worried U’s fans in equal measure. No Ryan Bennett, Zeno Ibsen-Rossi or Danny Andrew due to illness - added to the absences of Mamadou Jobe and Michael Morrison, every centre-half was injured, bar one who hadn’t played a minute under Monk in Jubril Okedina.
That meant a back three of James Gibbons, Paul Digby and Jubril Okedina were set to face a front three of McCleary, Vokes and Sadlier. I can’t think of many worse ways to enter such an important game, where the U’s knew the equation: a win keeps them up. Simple as that.
In the first half, it didn’t feel anything close to simple. Despite a couple of openings, mainly Gassan’s near post header brushing the outside of the post, it was all Wycombe. Cross field balls onto Vokes’ forehead were the order of the day, and he had the beating of Gibbons every time. U’s rode their luck at times with Wycombe hitting the top of a bar from a corner, but found a way to get through to half-time unscathed.
That half-time was notable for one reason: Harrison Dunk’s farewell. There’ll be enough podcast minutes and website articles devoted to his incredible career and impact at the club, but it was a touching moment to say goodbye to a true legend.
Back to the game itself, in the second half it just felt like we needed to find one chance. Just somehow charge our way through, win a dodgy pen (more on those later), bobble one in off someone’s arse, whatever it was. Deserved, undeserved, just beg that luck was on our side.
Miraculously, it came. With the second half going in much the same direction as the first, Liam Bennett dug out a trademark cross on the right, just when it felt like the ball was lost and he would do well to even win a corner. The ball swung onto Gassan’s head at the back stick and he got a really decent amount of power on it, enough for the keeper’s hand to not be strong enough to stop the ball creeping in. Eruption at the Abbey; 20 minutes to last and we could all put our feet up on Saturday.
With the stadium bouncing, Monk decided to go ahead with the triple sub he had prepared at 0-0: Fejiri, Taylor and Lankester on for Gassan, Bonne and Kaikai. It made some sense at 0-0 to get some fresh and reinvigorated legs on up front for a big last 20 chasing everything. At 1-0, backs against the wall, surely a centre midfielder to help Cousins made more sense?
Hindsight is wonderful, but even at the time it felt like a mistake, and ten minutes later it proved to be one. A nothing ball swung in, cruising out for a corner, a tangle of legs, and a point to the spot. Who else but Lyle Taylor? In fairness, it looked really, really soft, but Taylor did give him a decision to make where a calmer head should have just played the moment better, not put his hands on the centre-back and let the ball float over their heads. Luke Leahy converted, and it was a question of what could the U’s conjure up with ten to go.
Not much, is the predictable answer. Even in the very last moment, Brophy has a free kick to whip into the box - everyone up, just find someone’s head at least, give us half a chance. The ball goes cruising over everyone and as Okedina rescues it on the byline, heads it high in the air, the final whistle goes. A summary of not just the game, but the season really.
And said season is far from over just yet. One game to go, but it’ll be a 90 minutes that will feel like a lifetime. The permutations are simple: U’s need a point to be safe, no matter what else happens. And if we lose, both Cheltenham (at managerless Stevenage) and Burton (at already relegated Fleetwood) have to win. The combination of Vale, Cheltenham and Burton all winning on the same weekend hasn’t happened once this season. There’s your jinx.
It’s still hugely unlikely, but stranger things have happened. We could’ve been home and hosed and ready for a fun day out in Burslem (or the closest it’s possible to get) but here we are. Once more unto the breach…