Cambridge 1 - 0 Cheltenham: Let's talk about it
- Luca Garofalo
- Aug 3
- 4 min read
What a start to the season for HMS piss the league. A confident display from the U's saw them take the lead through new no.9 Appere before seeing out the game and claiming a brilliant win in front of 6,600 fans at the Abbey. From minute one the tactic was clear, long balls into the channels from Watts towards Appere and either keep the ball wide or win a throw in to build an attack. For the majority of the game we defended well but we still made a few poor mistakes which were luckily left unpunished.
Tactically
Harris set up in a 4-5-1/4-2-3-1 depending on how you look at it. It was a fairly simple in defence with a simple back 4. Dom Ball and McLoughlin sat in midfield with Kaikai and Brophy out wide and star boy Knight in between them in the 10. Appere was the loan striker up front and worked harder then 2. The U's then went to a 5-3-2 in the final stages of the game with Brophy coming off for Jobe to make a back 5. Kaikai then joined Loft up top and Hoddle, Ball and McLoughlin in the middle of the pitch.
Player ratings
Eastwood - 6 - He kept a clean sheet on his debut which is fantastic but he was never tested and didn't have much to do, facing only 2 shots on target in the 97 minutes of football.
Purrington - 6.5 - He defended quite well, winning all 3 tackles and only getting dribbled past once throughout the game. However, I wasn't impressed with him going forward, he leaned towards lumping the ball long which rarely worked opposed to keep the ball at the back and build an attack.
Morrison - 6 - Another solid performance from the skipper was definitely on the bingo card. He won 100% of his ground duels and 69% of his areal duels which for a 37 year old is very impressive.
Watts - 6.8 - I thought it was tale of 2 halves for Kell. The first half was fairly poor with a lot of his passes finding the Habbin, however in the second half he was superb and barely put a foot wrong. A dominant display from the geodie certainly helped the U's claim all 3 points.
Bennet - 7 - Benno was fantastic going forward and combined well with Brophy going forward. He seemed much more aggressive in his tackles and looked better defensively. He won half of his duels on the ground and 83% in the air which for a smaller full back is very impressive. A very good day at the office for the right back and one I can see him building on.
Ball - 7 - Amazing. Controlled. Dominant. 3 words that summed up Ball's performance yesterday. A fantastic display of physical pressence and control from minute 1. This only further sums up the amazing bit of business from Harris and Bonner.
McLoughlin - 7 - A composed performance from the midfielder. Kept the game ticking and barely put a foot wrong. A quietly good debut for the 28 year old.
Kaikai - 7.6 - A fantastic performance from the fan favourite. He started the second half with venom flowing through his blood. A nasty chop that sent the nearest 11 Cheltenham players helped set up the goal before having his shot well saved to gift Appere his first. SK had a shot cleared off the line and all his performance needed was a much deserved goal.
Knight - 7.8 The next Messi? The next wessi? Whoever you compare him to is a disservice on Knight. The magician in the final third was on point throughout the game and was teasing the NRE with those free kicks. He helped set up multiple chances and was a joy to watch. I'd be surprised if his shirt sells don't reach record highs this season.
Brophy - 7.2 - Brophs looked confident and full of passion. He was direct, nimble and very unlucky to not grab a goal contribution. He just seemed happier on the pitch then he did last season and the value in that cannot be understated. He was able to make their back line look semi-pro. He was another player that looked simply lovely as Max Verstappen once said.
Appere - 8 - Have we finally replaced Ironside? Have we got the best no.9 in the country? How good was Louis yesterday. He ran the channels superbly, battled everything and got a much deserved goal. His first competitive goal since 13th August 2024.
On a brief serious note, the club need to have a look at some of the stewards because it took far too long for them to help the young lad who collapsed on the right hand side of the NRE. The most recent update we recieved was after the full time whilstle and he was with the medics and was conscous and knew his name and where he was. The club is yet to announce a statement on this. As someone who has passed out it was a shame to see how long it took the stewards to act.
On a more positive note it was fantastic to see P*sh lose from 1-0 up live on Sky. More of that to come this season would be fantastic and it likely with the players they have lost and horrible excuse for a man in charge.
A huge thank you to our partners, Centre 33, who are making great strides in helping many across cambridgeshire. Here at NRE Report we want to help those that don't get the credit they deserve and such has started a GoFundMe which goes directly to them. Click the link below to donate.
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