Match Thread: Cambridge United (a)

[Comrade 86]

Cledara Abbey Stadium: KO- 15.00

We’re on a mini-run, aren’t we, but despite having our fate firmly back in our hands, the pressure to perform remains; two wins from our last two and we’re back in the sunlit uplands of the Championship; a loss, or even a draw and potentially the pendulum swings again.

It’ll be interesting to see whether we might see one or two back in full training this week, but it’s hard to view the win against Orient as anything other than one of our most complete performances this season and this despite being far from clinical in front of goal. Will the confidence garnered see us approach the game with the same positive approach? One hopes so! Another slip up when seemingly set to turn the screw and inevitably, PW’s management will be under fire. A win and we head back to Pride Park with only Carlisle standing between us and our first promotion since 2007.

Our Opponents:
The club was founded in 1912 as Abbey United, and took the name Cambridge United in 1951. They played in local amateur leagues before joining the Southern League after finishing as runners-up of the Eastern Counties League in 1957–58. Under Bill Leivers's stewardship they were crowned Southern League Premier Division champions in 1968–69 and 1969–70, which helped to secure their election into the Football League in 1970. 

Recent Form & Key Players:
Off the back off two absolute kickings from Reading, 4-0, then a 6-0 hammering from Lincoln, Cambridge were held 1-1 by Northampton before closing out March with a 2-0 loss away to Bolton. April has seen them draw at home to Charlton and lose by the odd goal to Blackpool, before showing better form in defeating Wigan 3-1 at home.

Top of the scoring charts sits Gassan Ahadme with 11, with Fejiri Okenabirhie next best with 9. Ellis Kachunga is next best having netted 6 times in 34 starts. Sully Kalkai tops the assists list with from Jack Lankester and George Thomas with 4 and 3 assists respectively.

Rams Match Squad:
Hard to get away from the 11 that started against Orient, given the resounding nature of the win and the style in which it was achieved. A buoyant Paul Warne confirmed in the post-match presser that everyone came through unscathed and it was interesting to hear him saying that we had more energy coming off a shorter break than was the case at Wycombe, where he felt we lacked energy, despite the 8 day break.

The injury picture remains murky and it’ll be interesting to see whether Gayle and Bird might be fit enough to make the matchday squad. I’ll not bother with my selected 11, as I always get it horribly wrong and the gaffer seems to be doing a decent job matching squads to opponents without our guidance. Instead, here’s the top of the table as it stands:

Don't forget to keep an eye on @Caerphilly Ram's injury updates thread across the week, for any snippets on player's likely return dates. I'll append anything I see to this htread as best I can in any case.

The Promotion Picture:
Some key fixtures tomorrow night, none more so than Bolton’s home game against Shrewsbury, whom we know to be a strong and obdurate side, though one lacking the Trotter’s class edge. I’d expect Bolton to take the points, but should Shrews grab an early lead, it could make for rather tougher game.

Oxford, fresh off the back of their 5 goal hammering of Posh play hosts to Lincoln City, whose charge towards the play-offs has faltered a little in most recently. It ought to be a tightly contested affair and to be honest, I’d not be surprised by any result.

The aforementioned Posh have what appears to be a routine task against lowly Fleetwood, but what will be the aftermath of their humbling at the hands of Oxford on Saturday. Might they have a hangover?

Perhaps the best tie of the round features champions-elect Portsmouth hosting Barnsley. A point will surely suffice for Pompey, but I expect them to win and win well en route to a thoroughly well-deserved title win. They’ve been excellent this season and this despite being one of the few clubs with comparable injury concerns to our beloved Rams. It'll be good to see them back where they belong after some very difficult years of their own.

Of the weekend ties, the most interesting involve Peterborough, who have a tricky away game at Bristol and Bolton host Port Vale. It seems odds on we will be going into the final week needing to beat Carlisle to be absolutely certain of promotion and I doubt too many Rams fans will be counting their chickens early! 

Final Thoughts:
A brief digression is in order to congratulate Eiran Cashin and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, both of whom made the EFL League 1 Team of the Year. Bit miffed that Curtis Nelson was overlooked to partner Cash at CB, as for me, he’s been top of the pops for us, but I doubt he’ll mind too much if we win come Saturday.

A last word as always to all Derby fans travelling to the game, safe journey to and fro, Rams and Ramettes and hopefully plenty of good stuff to chatter about on your way home. Honestly, I think our away support has been as good as any in the entire EFL this season and they’ll hopefully be rewarded with another complete and controlled performance as we ourselves edge closer to that vital 2nd place finish.

COYR
BE MORE B4

 

Edited April 16 by DarkFruitsRam7

[Oakwood Ram]

Great work yet again with the match threads, these have been a different class over the last couple of months.

I for one will miss these after next week.

COYR - Hold your nerve and leave everything on the pitch for two more matches, we’ve got this.

Edited April 15 by Oakwood Ram

[Simmo’s left foot]

Hopefully comrade will be doing the thread first game of next season 🙂 

[Paultheram]

The power is in our hands…

I think we should go again with an unchanged 11! 
Not even sure if bird is fit he gets a place on the bench.

Saturday could be the day!

[Steve Buckley’s Dog]

To be honest, I find these end of season games where nothing is at stake a little dull. 

[rammieib]

Unreserved seating on Saturday. What a sh/t show that will be.

 

[eddielewis]

From a quick look of their weekend fixture vs Charlton the pitch didn't seem to be in a good condition. Nathan Jones described the pitch as 'rustic at best' and 'they haven't watered it in 8/10 years' and it didn't allow for free flowing football.

[rammieib]

1 minute ago, eddielewis said:

From a quick look of their weekend fixture vs Charlton the pitch didn't seem to be in a good condition. Nathan Jones described the pitch as 'rustic at best' and 'they haven't watered it in 8/10 years' and it didn't allow for free flowing football.

Ideal for us then. 

[Crewton]

13 minutes ago, rammieib said:

Ideal for us then. 

Like at Northampton you mean?

[DCFC1388]

I think we may see just the 1 change to the starting 11 with Barkhuizen coming in for Thompson. Nothing to do with Thompsons performance but more because we need to win & before his injury Barkhuizen was looking good in the 10 role...

3421: Wildsmith - Nelson Bradley Cashin - Wilson Adams Smith Sibley - NML Barkhuizen - Collins

Vickers Thompson Bird Hourihane CBT Waghorn Washington

I can see Bird being back on the bench replacing Fornah.

With that starting 11 & the options from the bench should be good enough to win. Its got the right mix of defensive & attacking options in the starting 11 as well as quality options imo from the bench to freshen up the midfield & upfront. I dont think any other team in our league will have as strong a bench as us this weekend.

Edited April 15 by DCFC1388

[r_wilcockson]

20 minutes ago, eddielewis said:

From a quick look of their weekend fixture vs Charlton the pitch didn't seem to be in a good condition. Nathan Jones described the pitch as 'rustic at best' and 'they haven't watered it in 8/10 years' and it didn't allow for free flowing football.

No problem for us then 😂

[littleover ram]

Do Cambridge have any kind of footballing rivalry with Oxford?

[Chopper]

Predicting no change to the starting line up, injuries allowing. Adams, Thompson, Smith as a centre midfield three should give us the freedom of the ground, if Cambridge are already on the beach. Earn the right to play, an early goal and we could repeat the Orient performance, concede and 2 up top may not be enough.

Let's get it done, win here and Bolton will need snookers! Lose and I'm going to need some WD40 for my squeaky bum.

[Reggie Greenwood]

2 hours ago, Comrade 86 said:

Cledara Abbey Stadium: KO- 15.00

We’re on a mini-run, aren’t we, but despite having our fate firmly back in our hands, the pressure to perform remains; two wins from our last two and we’re back in the sunlit uplands of the Championship; a loss, or even a draw and potentially the pendulum swings again.

It’ll be interesting to see whether we might see one or two back in full training this week, but it’s hard to view the win against Orient as anything other than one of our most complete performances this season and this despite being far from clinical in front of goal. Will the confidence garnered see us approach the game with the same positive approach? One hopes so! Another slip up when seemingly set to turn the screw and inevitably, PW’s management will be under fire. A win and we head back to Pride Park with only Carlisle standing between us and our first promotion since 2007.

Our Opponents:
The club was founded in 1912 as Abbey United, and took the name Cambridge United in 1951. They played in local amateur leagues before joining the Southern League after finishing as runners-up of the Eastern Counties League in 1957–58. Under Bill Leivers's stewardship they were crowned Southern League Premier Division champions in 1968–69 and 1969–70, which helped to secure their election into the Football League in 1970. 

Recent Form & Key Players:
Off the back off two absolute kickings from Reading, 4-0, then a 6-0 hammering from Lincoln, Cambridge were held 1-1 by Northampton before closing out March with a 2-0 loss away to Bolton. April has seen them draw at home to Charlton and lose by the odd goal to Blackpool, before showing better form in defeating Wigan 3-1 at home.

Top of the scoring charts sits Gassan Ahadme with 11, with Fejiri Okenabirhie next best with 9. Ellis Kachunga is next best having netted 6 times in 34 starts. Sully Kalkai tops the assists list with from Jack Lankester and George Thomas with 4 and 3 assists respectively.

Rams Match Squad:
Hard to get away from the 11 that started against Orient, given the resounding nature of the win and the style in which it was achieved. A buoyant Paul Warne confirmed in the post-match presser that everyone came through unscathed and it was interesting to hear him saying that we had more energy coming off a shorter break than was the case at Wycombe, where he felt we lacked energy, despite the 8 day break.

The injury picture remains murky and it’ll be interesting to see whether Gayle and Bird might be fit enough to make the matchday squad. I’ll not bother with my selected 11, as I always get it horribly wrong and the gaffer seems to be doing a decent job matching squads to opponents without our guidance. Instead, here’s the top of the table as it stands:

Don't forget to keep an eye on @Caerphilly Ram's injury updates thread across the week, for any snippets on player's likely return dates. I'll append anything I see to this htread as best I can in any case.

The Promotion Picture:
Some key fixtures tomorrow night, none more so than Bolton’s home game against Shrewsbury, whom we know to be a strong and obdurate side, though one lacking the Trotter’s class edge. I’d expect Bolton to take the points, but should Shrews grab an early lead, it could make for rather tougher game.

Oxford, fresh off the back of their 5 goal hammering of Posh play hosts to Lincoln City, whose charge towards the play-offs has faltered a little in most recently. It ought to be a tightly contested affair and to be honest, I’d not be surprised by any result.

The aforementioned Posh have what appears to be a routine task against lowly Fleetwood, but what will be the aftermath of their humbling at the hands of Oxford on Saturday. Might they have a hangover?

Perhaps the best tie of the round features champions-elect Portsmouth hosting Barnsley. A point will surely suffice for Pompey, but I expect them to win and win well en route to a thoroughly well-deserved title win. They’ve been excellent this season and this despite being one of the few clubs with comparable injury concerns to our beloved Rams. It'll be good to see them back where they belong after some very difficult years of their own.

Of the weekend ties, the most interesting involve Peterborough, who have a tricky away game at Bristol and Bolton host Port Vale. It seems odds on we will be going into the final week needing to beat Carlisle to be absolutely certain of promotion and I doubt too many Rams fans will be counting their chickens early! 

Final Thoughts:
A brief digression is in order to congratulate Eiran Cashin and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, both of whom made the EFL League 1 Team of the Year. Bit miffed that Ryan Nelson was overlooked to partner Cash at CB, as for me, he’s been top of the pops for us, but I doubt he’ll mind too much if we win come Saturday.

A last word as always to all Derby fans travelling to the game, safe journey to and fro, Rams and Ramettes and hopefully plenty of good stuff to chatter about on your way home. Honestly, I think our away support has been as good as any in the entire EFL this season and they’ll hopefully be rewarded with another complete and controlled performance as we ourselves edge closer to that vital 2nd place finish.

COYR
BE MORE B4

 

Is Ryan Curtis’s brother ? 😉

[HorsforthRam]

I’m already nervous! 😂😂

[Comrade 86]

44 minutes ago, Reggie Greenwood said:

Is Ryan Curtis’s brother ? 😉

Do you know I've written Ryan a gazillion times this season and caught myself every time, but this one has slipped the net. @DarkFruitsRam7 give the man his correct name please. 

Thank you,

The Idiot 😂

[Charliegeorge1962]

It's in our own hands now.

COYR

[Comrade 86]

1 hour ago, littleover ram said:

Do Cambridge have any kind of footballing rivalry with Oxford?

There's a Varsity game, but I've not really heard any of the locals talk of rivalry between the two clubs. They hate Swindon though! 🤣

[CBRammette]

2 hours ago, littleover ram said:

Do Cambridge have any kind of footballing rivalry with Oxford?

No Peterborough gets a bit feisty

[Crewton]

2 minutes ago, CBRammette said:

No Peterborough gets a bit feisty

Both sets of fans chanting "what's it like to see a hill?"