Cambridge City vs Maldon and Tiptree

We traveled via coach with the fans not expecting a lot from the game due to the poor start to the season and the league that Cambridge City are in, and how they are performing in their league. We traveled 42 miles North to Cambridge, which took us about 1 hour.

After heavy morning rain the home side kicked off in bright sunshine on a superb playing surface, attacking up the slight slope and with the wind advantage.

Players shake hands before the game started.

The early exchanges saw a Berquez effort from 30 yards sail over the bar after 2 minutes and, on 6 minutes a foul by Lee Townrow just outside the penalty area saw the ball cleared only after Lawson had been fouled as he dwelt on the ball. The home side took the lead in their first meaningful attack after only 7 minutes when a slip by Billy Burgess allowed Neil Midgley to get behind the visiting defence on the left and, when he pulled the ball back from the byline, Craig Hammond fired powerfully home. 


Conceding an early goal clearly rattled the visitors and Lee Townrow was put under pressure only a minute later as he tried to let the ball run out of play for a goal kick but lost possession to Hammond and Cousins was forced to concede a corner which came to nothing.


Maldon then took charge of the game with chance after chance and their pressure finally paid of in the 45th minute when the ball fell to James Lawson who crossed the pall in to Sos Yao who tucked the ball in to the back of the net, 1-1.

Sos Yao wheels away after making the game level.

Half Time: Cambridge City 1 - 1 Maldon and Tiptree


On 69 minutes Cambridge City replaced Robins with James Krause but a minute later the visitors took the lead. The hard-working James Abbott found Freddie Ladapo on the left and he outpaced the home defence and crossed for James Lawson to fire confidently home with a low first-time effort. 

James Lawson makes it 2-1.

The home defence couldn’t cope with Ladapo as only a minute later another strong run put him clear of the home back line but this time he fired hastily over the bar and, in a spell of concerted pressure from the visitors, a cross from the left from Ross Wall narrowly evaded no fewer than 3 visiting attackers in the penalty area. On 76 minutes M & T replaced James Lawson with Marcus Milner and 5 minutes later Michael Deane replaced Joe Pearman. 


On 83 minutes Hammond had a rare chance for the home side when the ball rebounded to him off an attempted clearance, but he headed straight at Behcett from close range. As they went in desperate search of an equaliser, Cambridge City pushed Theobald forward into attack but this inevitably left space at the back and Milner fired narrowly wide of the near post after he been left free on the right.

For some reason referee Mr Artis started to make sure that everyone knew he was in charge as he began to make a few strange decisions which annoyed the visitors. First, he and his assistant chose to take no action when objects were thrown on to the pitch by home supporters at M & T players, then, on 87 minutes, he dramatically waved his yellow card at Behcett for time wasting after he decided to take a goal kick from the opposite side of his six-yard box. A minute later, after appearing to be quite happy to lecture Lee Townrow for climbing on the shoulders of Clift midway into the M & T half, he inexplicably produced a straight red card for dissent, but subsequently justified his decision by alleging foul and abusive language which was rather inconsistent after what he had earlier allowed to go unpunished from both sides. The decision inspired the home side who pushed forward and equalised on 91 minutes when Hammond sliced his effort across goal, the ball inadvertently reached Clift on the right who played it back into the danger area where the unmarked Dave Theobald fired home. A minute later Billy Burgess received a yellow card after a fifty/fifty challenge with Hammond which saw the City striker carried off the field on a stretcher but make a miraculous recovery soon after. On 94 minutes another excellent run by Ladapo ended with a fine save by Barrett at his near post and, as the referee again found an extra 7 minutes to add on, Darren Behcett had to make a full length save to push an effort from Theobald around the post. Ironically, the referee eventually decided to blow for full time just as Marcus Milner had a free run on the home goal and the visitors left the field feeling somewhat aggrieved at the final result, instead of being proud of a performance which deserved victory.

My man of the match was defender Lee Townrow, this was because he kept the Cambridge strikers quiet nearly all time in which was a hard task and also he does not normally play as a defender.

Full-time: Cambridge City 2 Maldon & Tiptree 2

Attendance: 266