Cambridge 5-2 Kettering (Mole x2, Green x2, Jackson)
Cambridge's game this month were so important they had to win all of them to guarantee a play off space. Cambridge took the lead through leading scorer Jamie Mole when he nodded in from close range. Kettering weren't going down without a fight and drew level when Verman smashed past a surprised keeper. Verman soon got his second of the game when Coulson passed back to the keeper but he got there first and tapped in. Green got his first of the game when he volleyed in from 10 yards to equalise and he then got his second in the 49th minute with a smashing effort. Winger Jackson scored one of the goals of the season when he broke from a Kettering corner, beat three men and placed the ball under the keeper. Jamie Mole finished off the scoring with a curling effort into the far right.
Forest Green Rovers 4-0 Cambridge
Utter embarrassment for Cambridge. They were played off the park. Had fatigue set in on the players? It looked that way. Henderson gave them the lead when he headed in, in the 20th minute. Midfielder Pook then doubled their lead with a superb free kick which was unstoppable and by half time it was 3-0 when Forbes scored a tap in. I was distraught. Was we going to fall to pieces and miss out of the play offs? Who knows. Forbes finished the rout with another tap in in the 78th minute. The worst performance i had seen from us, and at such a crucial stage in the season.
Cambridge 1-2 Lincoln (Balkestein)
This encounter definitely had an end of season feel to it. It was sloppy and the players looked tired. We needed to win this to have any hope of clinching the last play off place as we faced 2nd placed Fleetwood next week. Lincoln took the lead through Bore early on and i slammed the water bottle down and had a strop. Sinclair got Lincoln's second on the verge on half time. I was so angry. A side of me that the players had never witnessed came out and i was close to hitting Jackson, the cocky c**t. He was replaced at half time and Harris came on who i was resting for the big game. We played a little better and grabbed our goal through our center back, Pim Balkestein. I was so stressed. Was i meant to be a football manager?
Fleetwood 2-3 Cambridge (Harris x2, Brodie OG)
Our hardest game of the season. The must win game. I have to say, i did have a bad feeling about our play off hopes as we were waiting to kick off. The last two games have been terrible and we started the same here. I pinpointed Jamie Vardy as there main threat and he scored after 5 minutes when he 'walked' through our defence and tapped in. That's it i thought. Play off dreams over. After the break Jamie Vardy put Fleetwood 2-0 up. I yelled out "For f**k sake! what's wrong with you? The fans pay good money to see you perform out there! Do it for f*****g them!" I felt better once i got that out of my system. In the 50th minute we got a goal back through an own goal from Brodie. I was wishing we got another and two minutes later we were level. Matthew Harris. How i loved this guy. He smashed in from 12 yards and i jumped out of my seat and he ran over and celebrated with me and the staff. Then i got the news. Grimsby were winning. We couldn't draw, we had to win to get in the play offs. Many thoughts were ticking through my mind and i looked at the ground thinking. I peered over to out fans when i heard a loud cheer. Harris wheeled away in celebration and i thought i would join in! I ran the whole length of the pitch and celebrated with our fans. I was ecstatic. I, however, would now miss the play off semi finals against Luton. But oh well... We had done it.
Cambridge 5-2 Luton (Play off semi final) (Jackson x2, Mole, Harris, Coulson)
I was gutted i had to sit this out. I mean, proper gutted. I decided to sit with some season ticket holders and get their views on the team etc. We started poor and Stuart Fleetwood put them 1-0 up after 2 minutes and 2-0 up after 10 minutes. Our squad reacted and Jackson, who i had to recall, did me proud. He dribbled past two players and lobbed the keeper. Cambridge fans went wild! 10 minutes later, in the 37th minute, we were level. Mole grabbed a well deserved goal and everyone looked fired up. On the stroke of half time Jackson grabbed his second. I went to the changing room at half time to congratulate the players and i got responses like "this is for you boss". I was shocked to be honest. They went out for the second half and Harris got his third goal in two games when he scored a picturesque goal in front of the home fans. Coulson scored a header late on to secure a comfortable margin going into the second leg.
Luton 0-1 Cambridge (Green)
We were pretty much through but we knew this wouldn't be as easy as we thought. We battled from the start and never stopped working which is all i could ask for. We did get fortunate when Fleetwood was allegedly offside but i didn't think it was. Matt Green popped up with a goal to send our travelling fans home happy and to secure our place in the play off final.
Player of the season - Matthew Harris
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This was the biggest day of my life. My first trip to Wembley as a manager. It would be my first of two within two weeks. I couldn't believe it. The players couldn't believe it. The underdogs for the majority of the season have made it to the play off final after been 19th when i took over in October. I woke up at 8 in the morning in my hotel bed. I decided to go and get a good breakfast. A full English if you like. I deserved a treat, don't i?
I returned to my room and had a little kip. I was so tired. I could barely sleep because of the excitement. I knew 15-20,000 fans were on their way to London to watch us try and gain promotion into League 2 at my first time of asking. I knew the players could do it. We had already beet Fleetwood twice in the league and now was our chance to make that three times. It was around 11am when i made my way down to Wembley. I just sat thinking of everything. What could go wrong or right. Who's the best to play in a game like this? Is 18 year old Harris too young? I decided to walk around Wembley and soak in the history of the 90,000 capacity stadium. It was near 1.30 and i heard the players come into the stadium. I went into the changing room with my coffee and sat the players down ...
This is it lads. Our big break. Many people have us down as evens to lose. Do not listen to them. We have beat these already. Imagine the pride that comes with a win at Wembley and the pride the supporters have. Let's do it for them. I honestly believe we can go out and show the world, live on TV how we play and that we mean business. How many of you thought you'd be on the verge of becoming a football league player after the poor start you had? Exactly. None. Look what you have done for yourselves. You have earned this opportunity. Take it with both hands, soak in the atmosphere and go out and win!
The match kicked off. The players looked fired up and ready. Good signals so far. We were outplaying Fleetwood for the majority of the opening stages and Matthew Harris was played through, one on one and scored. I went beserk before noticing the flag was up for offside. I fell to my knees and felt like crying. From that free kick Fleetwood went up and got a penalty from a stupid tackle from Balkestein. My heart was in my mouth. Up stepped Jamie Vardy. The reliable striker who so many Fleetwood fans idolise. In goal for us was Mann. Pretty new on the scene and he could make himself a hero. Vardy started his run up. I turned away. Suddenly, a huge cheer. I thought that he had scored until i noticed our bench were jumping. He'd missed. Put it high and wide. The pressure got to him.
Vardy looks on in disbelief as he misses the penalty
We were even more up for it now. It was nearing half time and neither team had many chances since that penalty miss. I decided to give Akpo Sodje a start for the first time as he was sharp in training and Harris in the 39th minute played him through on goal. It seemed like Sodje was running for an eternity before i saw the net ripple. I went crazy. Jumping up and down, screaming. The fans looked amazing all bouncing and singing. I was proud to be manager of this football club.
Cambridge fans celebrate Sodje's opener
For the rest of the second half i couldn't sit still. I was so excited at the thought of winning the play offs. Fleetwood piled on the pressure. We were resisting it though. We were looking like champions. We played neat football. It was fast, free flowing stuff and it was working wonders. Fleetwood found it hard to get the ball off of us and every time we got a corner it looked like we would score with our airial presence. We kept on pinning Fleetwood in their own half. We got a free kick on the edge of the area. The whole ground was dead silent. You'd hear a pin drop. Harris stepped up, curled it around the wall, rattled the bar and the Fleetwood defence cleared for a corner. It was so close to been 2-1. The corner was whipped in and Pim Balkestein met it with a bullet header and Wembley exploded. It was a party atmosphere after that goal. We run out well deserved 2-0 winners and i was so proud of everyone at my club.
Cambridge win the play offs!