New Cambridge United manager Neil Harris made a positive start to life in charge of the U’s as his side came from behind to draw with Charlton Athletic.
Going into the last five minutes of the League One clash, Cambridge found themselves two goals down but a spirited late comeback which saw Gassan Ahadme score a brace, including a 96th minute penalty, meant they would return to Cambridgeshire with a share of the points.
The game against Charlton marked the start of a new era for the U’s with it being Harris’ first game in charge following the sacking of former manager Mark Bonner two weeks ago. Although it looked likely that his first game in charge would end in defeat, the fight that the players showed to pull two goals back late to tie the game, was something which had not been seen for some time.
Although there is no change in their league position, the U’s did extend the gap between them and the relegation zone to five points. With all the sides below them losing bar bottom side Cheltenham it was an afternoon of positives for Harris and his side.
Despite staging a dramatic late comeback, the former Gillingham boss was left wanting more and believed that his side could’ve taken all three points on another day.
Speaking to club media after the 2-2 draw, Harris said:
“Before the game I said to the guys that there are going to be moments of adversity and that we are going to have to show some character, resolve and what Cambridge United stands for – togetherness and the values that we believe in as a group – and we did.
“First half I thought we were outstanding but fair play to Charlton, I thought they started the second half well but the character to come back from behind and to almost win the game, it was a big point for us.
“People might say we nicked a point, we didn’t. We deserved a point and in fact, we probably deserved three.”
Goals have been a problem for the U’s all season however you wouldn’t have thought that given their last two games, Harris knows it’s an issue that still needs to be addressed but also believes that he has the players already at the club.
“I think we have got good players and a good group. We know we have to fix the top end of the pitch but i feel like we have players that can score goals – we saw Gassan get on the scoresheet twice today and we scored four goals last week. Players have the ability to do it, it’s getting them high up the pitch and into good positions.”
“We have shown what a good team we can be. We now have a week on the training pitch to try and implement ideas and I want a big performance next week at my first home game.”
Writer’s View
Harris’ first game in charge was certainly entertaining and it is likely that they’ll be plenty of moments of adversity which he eluded to, during his time in charge. It is a shrewd appointment by the club and he showed sparks of brilliance during his time as manager at Gillingham.
He’ll now want to put further daylight between the club and the relegation zone and if able to build on the performance against Charlton, they can do just that.
Senior Editor
