Cheltenham can enjoy Christmas party after Cambridge draw – Michael Duff

Posted Sunday, December 15, 2019 by PA

Michael Duff said Cheltenham’s players could go and enjoy their Christmas party after hitting back for a 1-1 Sky Bet League Two draw at home to Cambridge.

The Robins were battling relegation 12 months ago, with their festive celebrations almost cancelled entirely.

But Will Boyle’s header to cancel out Paul Lewis’ opener for improving Cambridge lifted them into the automatic promotion places, with a game in hand on both sides above them.

“This time last year Christmas was nearly cancelled,” Duff said. “It would have been if we hadn’t scored a last-minute winner against Grimsby, but it shows you how far we’ve come.

“I’ve just told them to go and have a good night, look after each other and be careful because you are representing the club, but they’ll be in on Monday and we’ll crack on for next week.”

Duff was pleased with his side’s second-half showing after a poor opening 45 minutes.

“They were better than us first half and we were better than them second,” he said.

“I thought we had a few more chances in the second half than they had in the first, but Scott (Flinders) has pulled off a great save to keep it at 1-0.

“We were the only team who were going to go on and win the game, but Cambridge worked their socks off.”

U’s boss Colin Calderwood admitted Cheltenham deserve a share of the spoils after their second-half improvement.

“The obvious statement is we won the first and they won the second and I’d say both sides deserved a point,” Calderwood said.

“What I liked about the team is when the goal went in – with more than half an hour to go, away from home against a good team – we got through with less drama than maybe we have experienced in months gone by and I think that was a good sign.

“We got ourselves into a bit of difficulty because we weren’t as nice with the ball as we were in the first half.

“We found a nice rhythm and we were able to create and have dominance of the ball really.

“There was always a danger with them, but the back four did really well with the line and the offside punctured their attacks on lots of occasions.

“The feeling of being disappointed is quite good, but it’s obvious we have to be better in the second half, so it’s repeating the quality of the first half for a longer period.”