Cambridge United

Cambridge United v Reading

Sky Bet League One
Abbey Stadium

Monday 4^th September 2023

8pm

Journey Time to the ground: 3 hours 40 minutes.  We left home at 3:25pm and arrived in Cambridge at 7:05pm after a 45-minute stop at South Mimms Services to have a cold drink from Starbucks and to get some petrol.  The traffic wasn't too bad but on a blisteringly hot day we needed some time out of the car!  We managed to park up in Ditton Fields which is about a ten-minute walk from the ground.

Ticket Price: £25

Programme Price: £3.50

Attendance: 6,789 with 1,151 Reading fans.

This was my second visit to the Abbey Stadium having previously visited over twenty years ago when Reading were last in this division.  We had a quick look in the club shop before making the pleasant walk along the footpath through parkland to the away end.  We were housed in the newest stand at the Abbey Stadium, the Mead Plant & Grab Stand behind one of the goals.  This is a single tiered all-seater stand raised above pitch level and set quite a way back from the goal-line.  The view from this stand was very good as was the legroom.  

To the left of the Mead Plant & Grab Stand is the Habbin Terrace.  This terrace is mostly covered apart from a small section at the south end of the stand.  On my previous visit to the Abbey Stadium the away fans had been housed in this area as the new stand was being built.  Opposite the Mead Plant & Grab Stand is the Newmarket Road End Terrace which is a covered terrace running around two third the width of the pitch where the most vociferous Cambridge fans congregated.  To the right of the Mead Plant & Grab Stand is the Main Stand, a single-tiered all-seater stand which houses the team dug-outs at its front.

This game had been moved to the Monday night as it was on Sky but that didn't stop Reading fans turning up in good numbers despite our woeful recent away form.  It had been a beautiful day and was still pleasantly warm when the game kicked off.  The first-half was a pretty even affair with both goalkeepers being forced into saves to keep the half-time score goalless.

Into the second-half and Reading came out of the blocks quickly but struggled to create any clear-cut chances.  Both teams were pressing for a winner and it was Cambridge who broke the deadlock in the 83^rd minute when substitute Fejiri Okenabirhie swept in James Brophy's low right-wing cross.  Reading pressed for an equaliser and deep into six minutes of added time the best chance of the game for Reading fell to former Cambridge player Harvey Knibbs, who headed an effort which hit the bar and bounced down onto the goal-line before being collected by Will Mannion in the Cambridge goal.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere in the away end was pretty good with noise being made through most of the game.  This was helped by a decent atmosphere from Cambridge fans in the Newmarket Road End who sang and bounced about throughout the game.

Journey Time home: 2 hours 40 minutes.  We got back to the car at 10:05pm and it took about 45-minutes to get through the traffic around the ground and in Cambridge, but once through that it was plain sailing and we arrived home at 12:45am.

I really enjoyed my trip to Cambridge.  The home fans were very friendly and helpful, and it's a decent sized ground for the club.  The game was fairly event and a draw would probably have been a fair result but Reading don't really look like scoring at the moment.  It's also a shame that the game had been moved to the Monday to accommodate Sky as it meant I wasn't able to explore any of the city centre, which looked beautiful when we were driving through it.