Cambridge 0-3 Saints - Match Thread

[The Kraken]

9 hours ago, trousers said:

Great to hear that Payne had a good game after I was advocating his promotion from the B Team to the first team last week 👍

[skintsaint]

Seemed a pretty comfortable win on the highlights. AA involved a lot as well so good to see. Potential banana skin avoided and into the hat for the next round. Payne looked pretty effective down the right too so good to see.

Thought their keeper was a bit unlucky at times!

[Guy]

7 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

...We had a nightmare journey back. Road closures and restrictions everywhere. ....

Indeed.  I was using the Waze app to navigate and it initially sent me down the M11 and then said the M25 was shut due to an accident so re-routed me round the North Circular.  Back to Aldershot at 00:20.

Next Question:  Do Cambridge always have the goal posts that far away from the visiting fans, or was it some attempt to be cunning and shorten the pitch?

[Saint Garrett]

7 minutes ago, Guy said:

Indeed.  I was using the Waze app to navigate and it initially sent me down the M11 and then said the M25 was shut due to an accident so re-routed me round the North Circular.  Back to Aldershot at 00:20.

Next Question:  Do Cambridge always have the goal posts that far away from the visiting fans, or was it some attempt to be cunning and shorten the pitch?

Yup - roads were no fun whatsoever! got back to Basingstoke about 00:45. yawn...

Apparently when they redesigned the stand we were in, they put it where it is, because when they redevelop the opposite end they're going to move the pitch towards the away end stand. 

[Whitey Grandad]

42 minutes ago, Guy said:

Indeed.  I was using the Waze app to navigate and it initially sent me down the M11 and then said the M25 was shut due to an accident so re-routed me round the North Circular.  Back to Aldershot at 00:20.

Next Question:  Do Cambridge always have the goal posts that far away from the visiting fans, or was it some attempt to be cunning and shorten the pitch?

The pitch size is 110 x75 yards, ours is 112 x 74.

33 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Yup - roads were no fun whatsoever! got back to Basingstoke about 00:45. yawn...

Apparently when they redesigned the stand we were in, they put it where it is, because when they redevelop the opposite end they're going to move the pitch towards the away end stand. 

Ah, that would explain it. When I saw a match there in 1971 the was nothing behind the southern goal except a load of allotments and the ball kept getting kicked over the fence into them. I counted more than twenty occasions.

[trousers]

1 hour ago, The Kraken said:

Yep, could do with a few more as I've given all of mine to CB Fry over the years

[CamSaint]

2 hours ago, Danbert said:

I know he didn't score, but I thought he played well, hopefully he can take the positives.

Agreed, and he was consistently making himself available and working the ball around. One of these days it will click for him. In my opinion he was very unlucky with the shot that was cleared off the line by the defender who knew absolutely nothing about it. Compare that to Che's first goal on Saturday where the ball hit the defender on the line & went in.

On a different note, I thought Payne looked very good going forward but struggled a bit defensively. I went with my son & young grandson who go to the Abbey fairly regularly and we sat more or less by the halfway line on Payne's side in the first half. He committed to several challenges particularly early on where he got skinned but fortunately the side didn't get punished for it. Having said that, he has a good eye for a pass & overall it was a very positive debut.

It would have been good if Ballard could have had a few more minutes. The lad oozes confidence and showed a natural striker's instinct to follow up & convert the rebound for his goal. He looks a real natural.

Good performance overall. Thought SA played well, Lyanco was his usual self. Funniest moment was when Payne was substituted. He was down with cramp for a while, so most players took the opportunity for a drink. Djenepo had come on earlier into midfield. When the substitution was made, Valery went over to RB, but Djenepo wandered back into midfield leaving a huge hole at LB, with Lyanco screaming and gesticulating at the bench saying 'who's supposed to be in this hole?!" (or words to that effect). Eventually they got Djenepo's attention and he then ambled back to take up his position.

There was also a lovely moment when the Saints fans sang and applauded for David Armstrong. 

It was a really enjoyable evening. Took me back to our League 1 days, going to grounds like Dagenham & Redbridge, Southend (where the roof leaked!) & Wycombe - happy days!

 

[Sheaf Saint]

To those who made the trip - How did Valery do at LB?

I know it's hard to judge against L1 opposition but did he do OK? Could he provide adequate cover on either side until Perraud and Tino are fit again?

[Saint Garrett]

7 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

To those who made the trip - How did Valery do at LB?

I know it's hard to judge against L1 opposition but did he do OK? Could he provide adequate cover on either side until Perraud and Tino are fit again?

He was ok, not much more than that. Kept checking back onto his right which you'd expect. He would do a job in emergencies, but not sure you'd want him there for longer than 1 or 2 games.

[AlexLaw76]

How did we play then?  Their manager was full of praise for our performance, saying we gave the game respect in that we were right at it.  Pressed them hard and and were very quick getting forward.  

[Chocolate Box]

34 minutes ago, CamSaint said:

Agreed, and he was consistently making himself available and working the ball around. One of these days it will click for him. In my opinion he was very unlucky with the shot that was cleared off the line by the defender who knew absolutely nothing about it. Compare that to Che's first goal on Saturday where the ball hit the defender on the line & went in.

On a different note, I thought Payne looked very good going forward but struggled a bit defensively. I went with my son & young grandson who go to the Abbey fairly regularly and we sat more or less by the halfway line on Payne's side in the first half. He committed to several challenges particularly early on where he got skinned but fortunately the side didn't get punished for it. Having said that, he has a good eye for a pass & overall it was a very positive debut.

It would have been good if Ballard could have had a few more minutes. The lad oozes confidence and showed a natural striker's instinct to follow up & convert the rebound for his goal. He looks a real natural.

Good performance overall. Thought SA played well, Lyanco was his usual self. Funniest moment was when Payne was substituted. He was down with cramp for a while, so most players took the opportunity for a drink. Djenepo had come on earlier into midfield. When the substitution was made, Valery went over to RB, but Djenepo wandered back into midfield leaving a huge hole at LB, with Lyanco screaming and gesticulating at the bench saying 'who's supposed to be in this hole?!" (or words to that effect). Eventually they got Djenepo's attention and he then ambled back to take up his position.

There was also a lovely moment when the Saints fans sang and applauded for David Armstrong. 

It was a really enjoyable evening. Took me back to our League 1 days, going to grounds like Dagenham & Redbridge, Southend (where the roof leaked!) & Wycombe - happy days!

 

The roof leaks at St Marys!!

[tippingnoddles]

So glad to see the young boys get a chance. They need to really boost the B Team to do well in Papa Johns cup. Young lads would rather play against league opps rather than prem 2, div 2. Proper growth, challenge and motivation for boys who want to prove themselves

[Pamplemousse]

Fun away day, some good new songs like the Wonderwall Oasis song for Djenepo

Unfortunately there was one idiot near me, clearly coked up, who ruined it by thinking it was funny to chant about children's diseases but he very quickly got told off by everyone around him.

[Saint Garrett]

28 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

Fun away day, some good new songs like the Wonderwall Oasis song for Djenepo

Unfortunately there was one idiot near me, clearly coked up, who ruined it by thinking it was funny to chant about children's diseases but he very quickly got told off by everyone around him.

Stolen straight from Leicester on Saturday, although it fitted better for them as they sung it about Dewsbury-Hall

[The Cat]

I'll be recreating that picture of people handing back their season tickets if there's going to be a song to the musical abomination that is Wonderwall.

In fact using the word "musical" in that last sentence is doing a disservice to actual music. 

[skintsaint]

2 minutes ago, The Cat said:

be a song to the musical abomination that is Wonderwall.

Prefer the 60s version from Mike Flowers.

[Whitey Grandad]

The draw for the third round is tonight just after the Tranmere Newcastle game. We are ball number 24. Ties will take place during week commencing 7th November.

https://www.efl.com/news/2022/august/carabao-cup-round-three-draw/

[stevegrant]

3 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

How did we play then?  Their manager was full of praise for our performance, saying we gave the game respect in that we were right at it.  Pressed them hard and and were very quick getting forward.  

Yeah, we were decent for the most part. Fairly clear the plan was to get in front early to give us that cushion, probably could have had the game won by half-time with either better finishing or not slightly overplaying at times, but some of the interchanges in tight spaces in midfield were very nice and we did the basics when we didn't have the ball too. Quite surprising for an XI that won't have played together to have that level of understanding, albeit admittedly against lower-league opposition.

[alehouseboys]

Their gaffer was impressed (talks well, wasn’t sure he was gonna stop for breath!)

 

[santolijador]

Wouldn't be surprised to see a game or two against them in pre-season/post World-cup friendly. Seems like both managers enjoyed the experience all round. 

[Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan]

Surprised Edwards didn't get more time, he looked good in pre-season and we looked comfortable for the last 20

[64saint]

According to the Daily Mail someone called Hewlett scored our third and final goal in the 88th minute.   Err !!!!! 🤔🙄.    More reason not to believe anything you read in the papers I guess.

[Saint86]

Wednesday at home then... take that.

A lot of prem teams playing each other in that draw, and one of city/Chelsea going out. Could open up nicely for another cup run.

Edited 24 August, 2022 by Saint86

[LiberalCommunist]

Great draw! Lots of all prem ties as well. 

Great time for a cup run!

Now lets get some more points on the board so we can have some fun. 

[rooney]

22 hours ago, 64saint said:

According to the Daily Mail someone called Hewlett scored our third and final goal in the 88th minute.   Err !!!!! 🤔🙄.    More reason not to believe anything you read in the papers I guess.

Said the same in the DT too.

[coalman]

43 minutes ago, rooney said:

Said the same in the DT too.

Looking forward to.the Hewlett to Chelsea rumours.

[sambosa75]

On 23/08/2022 at 22:12, Atlanta Saint said:

Does that make him your step nephew?

Technically I guess you could say that but we aren’t particularly close.  He’s on loan at Yeovil now following Parker’s sacking which is a bit of a shame.