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BARRY LANDY

Hope springs eternal but weather postponements dash momentum

Of the 71 other teams in the Football League, only Crawley Town and Charlton Athletic have played fewer games than the U’s this season.

With two games in hand on some of the teams around them, ColU are in a position where their league place betrays the severity of the situation. Above the relegation zone by virtue of just one point, it’s not quite critical, yet.

The games in hand are each individual agents of optimism, and with hope springing eternal, U’s fans can bounce onto the next few games – today’s visit of Coventry and Tuesday’s match with Bradford first up – safe in the knowledge they have more chances, and thus more chance, to right their wrongs and push away from danger.

Aside from meaning several sides went weeks without a game and the chance to train on grass, the unprecedented bad weather that was experienced throughout the country throughout January and February acted as a halt to momentum for many teams.

When you’re winning, your games can’t come fast enough. With confidence high and an impetus pushing a team on, no player wants to see their run halted in the way it was for so many at the year’s start.

Prior to the three week period of non-activity in late January and early February, Joe Dunne’s charges had won four of their previous six, losing just once. Since the games have begun one more, you’ll need no reminding, four defeats have been cushioned only by scoreless draws with Swindon and Rotherham.

It can have the reverse effect too. Prior to the wet weather interruption, Crawley Town had managed only two wins in fifteen. After a month off, they picked up seven points in three games against League One’s top eight, up to Tuesday’s draw with Stevenage.

While Richie Barker’s men used the time off to distance themselves from the immediacy and despondency of a demoralising run, ColU have been left to long what may have been.

Over the course of three weeks of thumb twiddling, any momentum coursing through the veins of the players slowly ebbs away, replaced with frustration and pent up energy. It’s nigh on impossible to retain the intensity of performance where there’s no outlet.

Rain or shine, U’s fans optimism should be unmoved. The good form from prior to the unrelenting winter, a run that

made a top 12 finish come May a distinct possibility, is a cause for genuine hope. The team are capable, as they’ve shown.

Momentum can be picked up again and it takes just one result. With past postponements coming thick and fast in March, there is ample opportunity to use one or more games in hand to good effect.

Still, there’s nothing like points in the bag. The glut of matches that fell foul to the weather have given a skewed look to the League One table.

At the top of the table, if a member of the chasing pack has matches on their opponent, it’s always qualified as such.

The same should apply at the bottom of the table.

For U’s fans, there’s solace in that particular caveat.

www.downinthebox.co.uk | @BarryLandyDITB

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Barney RonayThe Guardian

The U’s were in good form in January