Cambridge 1 Telford 0
I couldn't be bothered to think of a witty headline for this, but it was a cracking match. We were joined by Beer Can and his friend, in fact I hardly ever seem to get down to the Shabby without guests in tow.
I have predicted that Telford will shock a few Conference fans this season, most of whom seemed to have written them off before they had a chance to kick a ball after gaining promotion from the Conference North at the end of last season. However the Bucks have been scoring for fun in pre-season and I think they will pose more of a threat than the Conference big boys think they will pose.
They certainly started off well enough at Cambridge on Tuesday night and could have easily been 3-0 up at the break if it wasn't for some impressive saves from Cambridge goalkeeper Danny Naisbitt, who was on tremendous form. A string of saves and double saves kept out the Telford onslaught with Sean Newton looking especially dangerous from set pieces. Cambridge on the other hand looked a bit predictable when they did go forward with Luke Berry and Ashley Carew being the only players who looked like making a difference, but all to often they couldn't get the ball in for the players in the middle.
Somehow the score was still 0-0 at half time, but the pattern of play started to swing in Cambridge's favour after them being lucky not to have conceded 3 in the first half. Adam Marriott and Harrison Dunk who had not imposed much in the first half looked like they had had the rocket they needed from Jez George at half time. And after just 5 minutes of the second half Dunk put the Us into the lead. Telford had a great chance on the hour mark when they hit the post to get back into the game, but after this they seemed to tire and started to fade as Cambridge and particularly Marriott grew in influence.
The game ended in Cambridge keeping the ball away from Telford and finally finished 1-0 to the Us.
It's difficult to see how either of these teams will fair this season, but it looks like it might be a mid-table finish for both of them. Cambridge need to be a bit more imaginative down the middle and Telford will need to conserve their energy more effectively agains more 'professional' teams, otherwise it might turn into a long season despite their impressive attacking powers.
Photo shows fans celebrating Dunks goal
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