Cambridge City manager Jamie Cureton pleased with ‘response’ produced to Newmarket Town derby defeat in away victory at Witham Town
Manager Jamie Cureton has praised the ‘response’ that his Cambridge City players produced during yesterday’s 4-2 win away at Witham Town.
The Lilywhites headed into the clash at the Simarco Stadium having lost 4-2 at neighbouring Newmarket Town on Tuesday night – a result and performance that Cureton described as ‘the lowest point’ since his arrival as City boss during the summer.
But with the likes of Alfie Mawson, Aaron Greene and George Smith back in the starting line-up after injuries, City showed no signs of any lasting hangover to rack up three points that have moved them up to 15th in the Isthmian League North Division table.
They fell behind twice to goals scored by Witham’s Oliver Bell and Shakeel Morris, but those efforts were cancelled out by Jack Thompson and Greene respectively.
Thompson then put City in front for the first time in the 66th minute before the points were sealed five minutes later by returning leading scorer Smith, who bagged his 10th goal of the season in the process.
And a bad afternoon for second-placed Witham got worse with the red cards brandished to both Archie McFadden and Reumu Abutoh.
Cureton said: “As a manger you always want a response. We’ve had defeats this year but Tuesday night was probably the lowest point as a group.
“Just thinking about the manner in which we lost – we’ve lost other games, but we can come away and people can see positives within it. Normally the fans are the first ones to let you know either way and every time after a game – whether we’ve lost or not – they’ve normally been quite good and can see that we’re moving in the right direction.
“They can see that there is a work ethic and a will to win, but Tuesday was a low point and we didn’t produce that. And combine that with the fact that it’s a local derby and people’s senses are heightened, so you get that disappointment even more.
“We went away from that really disappointed and had a good chat on Thursday (at training) and worked on some different things. We knew we had a few players coming back and we’ve possibly risked them a bit – especially Alfie.
“But Alfie is the type of guy that could see we were in a bit of a rut and wanted to play because he wanted to help the team. Greeney has obviously come in and started his first game and Smudger did as well. We changed the formation and went to a three at the back, which I like playing any way, and we spoke about what is going to be needed.
“Ultimately it was hard work, fight and desire – all the rubbish stuff that people don’t normally like doing. But you have to do that first and foremost to win football matches. It’s not always going to be easy, especially coming away to a team in the top six.
“It’s good that we’ve come from behind and the fact it’s against a team in the top six shows what we’re capable of and the players have shown that when they’re asked to do stuff they can do it.
“If you need to be horrible for 50, 60 or 70 minutes then we have to be that. And then I believe we have enough quality in the group to score goals and win games of football. As package, yes I’m not happy with the goals we’ve conceded, but overall as a performance I’m very pleased.”
City are now preparing for one of the biggest days in the club’s history next Saturday (30 November) when they play a first ever fixture at their new ground in Sawston.
