Manchester United might have known what to expect from this proud little club who have spent the last decade teetering on the brink of extinction, simply refusing to fold, sometimes hanging on with desire alone. On the field, Richard Money’s side personified that same spirit. They would not give in. They rattled United at times in the first half and they hung on for dear life in the second, as their fans roared them on. Goalkeeper Chris Dunn produced some heroic saves — each one better than the one before — while before him centre-halves Michael Nelson and Josh Coulson stood firm against one of the most lavishly assembled attacking units in world football.
Captain Tom Champion was rugged and strong in midfield, while Ryan Donaldson offered pace, threat from out wide and quality from set-pieces. No one in amber and black let Money down, and the manager they nicknamed ‘Dickie Dosh’ during his playing days at Liverpool hit the jackpot of a replay at Old Trafford. League Two Cambridge have already raked in £250,000 from last night’s goalless draw and after a decade of begging and borrowing to get by, they can expect anywhere up to £1.7million from a televised replay and their share of receipts from a full house at Old Trafford.
‘I don’t think the chairman would have been happy if we’d scored in the second half,’ smiled Money. The windfall is life-changing for a club operating on this scale, which explains the wild scenes of jubilation at the final whistle. Players hugged and none of them gave a second thought to trading shirts with United’s stars, who slipped quietly away down the tunnel. Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata were rested but Louis van Gaal sent on Robin van Persie and Ander Herrera to join Angel di Maria, the most expensive signing in British football, and Radamel Falcao, equally well-paid if only on loan at the momentCambridge boss Money had billed it ‘beauty against the beast’: the beautiful university city on the Cam against the corporate powerhouse from Old Trafford, confirmed this week as the world’s second wealthiest football club.But forget idyllic images of punting down the Backs; there was an old-fashioned din rattling beneath the corrugated iron roof of the Abbey Stadium as they were lifted by early bursts of pace from Donaldson and Cameron McGeehan.
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