Droylsden F.C.-The bloods on the net!

CAMBRIDGE UNITED 5 – 0 DROYLSDEN

BLUE SQUARE PREMIER – Tuesday 22 January 2008

Report by Gary Owen

Droylsden's defensive frailties were cruelly exposed once more at the Abbey Stadium, when they fell behind as early as the 11th minute. Make-shift left back Ged Murphy tried to run the ball out of play, but he was robbed by Lee McEvilly despite claims of a foul, and his low cross was converted by Scott Rendell – the first of his hat-trick.

Chris Denham and Jody Banim then both made inroads into the Cambridge box, and Ashley Burbeary saw his strike go straight at Danny Potter.

Droylsden's task was made more difficult when Adam Dugdale limped off with a suspected hamstring strain, with Burbeary having to make into the back-four.

However, Jimmy Quinn's side were soon back on the front foot as Denham had to clear off his own line from Wayne Hatswell's header, but the hosts doubled their lead just after the half-hour mark. Rob Wooleaston collected the ball some 25 yards from goal and unleashed an unstoppable effort, which curled away from Paul Phillips to find the top corner.

Stephen Reed and McEvilly combined twice without reward for the hosts before Denham sent over a whipped cross for Terry Fearns at the other end, but Mark Albrighton was on hand to head clear.

Moments after the break, McEvilly, making his debut for the U's, fired over the apex of bar and post, and Gareth Morris sent a free kick over the Cambridge wall but it was an easy collect for Potter.

Another Denham cross found Fearns, but it arrived too quickly for the front man to control. Denham was then clearly fouled after rounding Hatswell right in front of the assistant, but he failed to flag and Cambridge broke away to force a corner, from which they made it 3-0 through McEvilly.

Banim pulled a shot wide of the mark, and Gavin Salmon couldn't reach a cross by Sean Taylforth.

Cambridge made it four on 69 minutes, as Rendell converted a far post header from Courtney Pitt's cross, although Phillips almost managed to turn it around the post only for the ball to find the side netting.

With 15 minutes remaining, Rendell completed his hat-trick as Pitt broke the offside trap to find his striker on the edge of the box, who beat Phillips with a low drive.

Home substitute Ben Farrell let fly, but his shot curled away from goal and a Potter clearance struck Fearns late on, but the home custodian was able to gather the ball.

Willmott looked to have won a penalty with two minutes remaining, but the referee waved away the appeals.

Hopefully, that will be the last of the heavy defeats, otherwise confidence is likely to take a hard hit in the crucial run-in to the end of this very tough season.

TEAMS:

CAMBRIDGE UNITED: Potter, Albrighton, Morrison, Gleeson, Hatswell, Reed (Farrell, 71'), Pitt, Wooleaston, Brown (Convery 54'), Rendell (Willmott, 78'), McEvilly

Subs. not used: Peters, Coulson.

DROYLSDEN Phillips, Roche, Murphy, Dugdale (Taylforth 25'), Murray, Lynch (Talbot, 71'), Morris, Burbeary, Denham (Salmon, 62'), Banim, Fearns.

Subs. not used: Morgan, Daly

Referee: Mr. John Hopkins (Essex)

Attendance: 2,000