Away to Weymouth

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I’m delighted to come away with another victory, and the difference again between the two sides was that we converted our chances.

Going into the match, we had to give James Krause a fitness test which he passed and I was pleased that was the case as we haven’t got much cover at left-back at the moment and it would have severely disrupted our back line if James had not been fit.

With James Krause fit, we were once again exemplary at the back and it’s great that we’ve kept another clean sheet, and we had to be a bit more aware of what Weymouth had to offer as they had signed Courtney Pitt and Rob Wolleston, so in that respect they had increased their attacking threat.

Although the back four were sound again, we cannot keep relying on our defence. It’s true we are taking our chances and winning matches, but I feel that our performance yesterday lacked control, and at times we were lacklustre. It’s not the first time it’s happened of late and we are more or less just getting by instead of dominating completely. I feel that we just need to raise our game in certain areas a bit more to ensure that everyone is playing at the same level.

With Craig Hammond scoring two goals for us, he clearly did well, and I feel that both he and Kolodynski are developing into an excellent strike partnership, and when they are really on their game, they could have a field day. We’ve also got back-up with Ryan Wade now in the squad, and he came on yesterday and once again showed that he has the quality to perform well at this level.

I feel Adie Cambridge was slightly fortunate to remain on the pitch following his second challenge coming after he had already been booked. I took him off at half-time as I felt he could be walking a tightrope during the second half, and with a small squad you simply cannot afford to lose key players through suspension. Adie has already picked up four bookings, so is just one away from collecting a suspension. I took David Kolodynski off for exactly the same reason.

There’s no question that Weymouth will feel slightly aggrieved not to have scored, but our third goal killed the game as a contest and it was good to make the long trip home enjoyable with another three points in the bag that extends our lead at the top of the table.

Clearly it’s great to be in this position, and as we know we are not the money-bags team of the league. I’m operating with a lower budget than last year, and some of our players have been plucked out of local football this season. We’ve just put in a lot of hard work and it’s good to be in this position going into the Hitchin cup game next week.

Looking ahead to that game, we do have injuries to personnel. Joey Abbs is still struggling, Neil Midgley has bad bruising to a bone, Robbie Nightingale has a kick to an ankle, but my main concern is John Kennedy who will have an x-ray on a toe injury in the week to see the extent of the damage. If it is bad news, then clearly he could be struggling for the Hitchin game.

As many of us know, there are a lot of connections between us and Hitchin. I had three spells with them as a player, and the likes of Mark Smith, Tom Pepper, John Frendo and manager Charlie Williams will be returning to Milton Road, so it should be a cracking game. They are top of their league as well, and like us unbeaten this season. They will bring a good following to Cambridge, and I would like to think we will get a good crowd that will push us on. It’s a big game, with money at stake if we progress, but we need to be right on it from the word go if we are to go through to the next round.