Andrew Bennett reviews last season, continuing with the month of September 2007.

Tuesday 4th September: U's 1-0 Grays Athletic [att: 2,793, away 148]

With Boylan missing due to ankle ligament damage, Rendell made his first start alongside big Leo, while Morrison replaced Peters. 17-year-old Robbie Willmott was called up for his first appearance on the bench, which sported no goalkeeping cover. In a hard-fought first half United, encouraged by an extremely vocal NRE were just about on top with Quinton outstanding. They finally took the lead three minutes after the break, Rendell heading home Reed's cross. Convery reappeared for the first time since his opening-day injury at York as a late sub for LFW as the U's ground out a fighting victory. Man of the Match: Darren Quinton

Later in the week, Setanta caused something of a furore when they cancelled their showing of United's game at Altrincham on the 18th due to 'clashes with Champions League scheduling' as if it were something they had only just noticed. LFW was voted the BSP Player of the Month, chosen by fans from a shortlist drawn up by "experts" and drew praise from Setanta's voice of football, Paul Parker. Leo must have been so proud.

Saturday 8th September: Exeter City 1-1 U's [att: 3,197, away 147]

Messrs Brown and Coulson were a welcome addition to the away fans on Exeter's shabby visitors' terrace for what is always one of the toughest trips of the season. It did not look good for United when the hosts went one up on 11 with an untidy goal, ex-U Richard Logan's shot blocked but not cleared and Jamie Mackie eventually bobbling a trundler home. The goal seemed to slow the game down and a drab affair was not helped by a hopelessly indecisive linesman on one side.

JQ charged up the hairdryer for half-time and the U's restarted in much better fettle, playing at a higher tempo and putting pressure on their opponents. It paid off ten minutes in, Reed's inswinging corner from the right presenting Rendell with a close-range header to level the scores with his fourth goal in four games.

United had marginally the better of the second half, although they had to rely on a superb double clearance off the line by Gleeson on 82, and they could have won it in added time as first Andy Marriott made a 'worldie' reaction save from LFW's crashing header, then Rendell broke clear, rounded the keeper but failed to find Wolleaston galloping into the middle. Man of the Match: Michael Morrison

More injury problems hit the squad next week with Hoyte out for two weeks with a hamstring strain, and with Boylan and Chilli still out, CRC striker Piers Wixon was allocated squad number 25. JQ revealed that he was looking for another striker and had spoken to Jamie Guy about another loan spell, but he did not want to drop out of the Football League again.

Saturday 15th September: U's 2-1 Crawley Town [att: 2,975, away 114]

On JQ's first anniversary at the Abbey, Peters came in for Hoyte and Convery replaced Pitt with Reed at left wing-back. That nice Amy Rayner awarded the visitors a penalty on 12 following a challenge on Guy Madjo by Peters which evinced no appeals whatsoever from anyone on the Crawley side; Madjo converted. This set the tone for a bad-tempered match in which even Steve Evans took a back seat to the battle of the assistants, Paul Raynor and Alan Lewer enjoying a right old verbal tussle which could probably be heard back in Crawley.

Madjo missed a one-on-one sitter on 41, but United pulled themselves together after the break and equalised on 48, Rendell flicking on Reed's cross for LFW to finish in deadly style. Four minutes later the U's were ahead, LFW heading across the box and Wolleaston ramming home into the top left corner from close range, and they remained on top until the end. Willmott got his debut ten minutes from the end in place of Quinton and made a good, lively impression, while in a shambolic finish Danny Bulman was dismissed for a second yellow for the visitors.

LFW picked up his Player of the Month award in his usual upbeat way - "I'm never happy" - while Evans thought his team should have won, Peters should have been sent off, they couldn't compete with United's budget, LFW's wages, etc etc. Football can be so unfair, can't it? Almost enough to make you resort to cheating. Man of the Match: Rob Wolleaston

The Sunday saw United's biggest ever mass marketing drive as fifty volunteers delivered 60,000 invites to the denizens of the Abbey Ward and Cambourne for the next South Stand Initiative game versus Salisbury.

Tuesday 18th September: Altrincham 0-3 U's [att: 982, away 199]

Alty had made an atrocious start to the season with a 100% home record (four games, four defeats) but their three points overall still kept them above the even-worse Droylsden, Northwich and Stafford. Pitt replaced Quinton and the hosts started in a cautious 4-5-1, and after a lively start United were ahead on 17 slightly against the run of play via a quite exquisite Pitt chip. Four minutes later it was 2-0, Gleeson's second-ever United goal as he barnstormed into the Alty area and lashed home with the help of an LFW assist.

You could see the home heads go down as their manager Graham Heathcote's comments about their defeat to Woking the previous Saturday in the matchday programme began to haunt them ("totally inept up front, void of ideas"). It was 3-0 just before the hour, Pitt's pinpoint cross converted by Rendell's looping header, and by the end even director Phil Law and physio Greg Reid were joining in the joyful bouncing on the away terraces. The new chant was set: "We are invincible!" Man of the Match: Courtney Pitt

Saturday 22nd September: Stevenage Borough 1-2 U's [att: 4,533, away 1,556]

In the absence of our friends from the north of the county, the nearest thing to a local derby in the last few years has been the new town boys from down the A1(M), and the atmosphere was positively crackling at Broadhall Way. The folly of not making the match all-ticket was demonstrated by a packed away end in which many gangways were entirely occupied in contravention of all sorts of rules. No-one wanted to miss this one.

United did not let us down, putting on an impressive display of pace and power, and they finally took a deserved lead on 42, Gleeson's cross met by Convery stealing in at the near post to guide a clever header across the keeper.

It was 2-0 on 62, a deep Gleeson cross finding that man Rendell nodding home at the far post to another mass outpouring of joy. Job done? Not quite, this was a local derby. Borough were awarded a generous penalty on 66 for Peters' challenge on Adam Miller, and in the ensuing melee the hosts' Stuart Lewis was dismissed for flattening Morrison. Miller made it 2-1 from the spot, but a United team now full of steel and resolve withstood spirited pressure to create a new club record of 11 games unbeaten from the start of a season, beating the runs of 1953-54 and 1925-26. Great day to be one of the amber army. Man of the Match: Dan Gleeson

With Rendell and LFW still United's only two fit strikers, JQ moved to sign Marvin Robinson on the Monday from Oxford on a three-month loan, fresh from participating in a live-on-TV defeat at Histon the previous Thursday. The only way was up for Marvin.

Tuesday 25th September: U's 1-1 Aldershot Town [att: 3,610, away 305]

The Shots were league leaders, coming to the Abbey with a remarkable 100% away record, and they soon revealed themselves to be an exciting, young footballing team without a hint of negativity, the best to come to Cambridge this season. The U's however were on the crest of a wave and took the lead on 21 with a fantastic team goal that showed they could knock it around, too. Albrighton passed it forward to Gleeson, inside to Rendell, a layoff to Convery, lofted pass to the inrushing Gleeson, a low cross across the six-yard box and there was Rendell to lash home his seventh goal in eight games. Glorious stuff.

The visitors, however, were not cowed, and carried on playing neatly in a ding-dong battle. United's old nemesis Nikki Bull produced a wonder save to deny Pitt on 56, and again on 75 from LFW, but Aldershot were giving as good as they were getting. Robinson replaced Rendell twelve minutes from the end, but three minutes from time a spell of sustained pressure from the Shots finally yielded a well-merited equaliser, Winfield heading home.

Robinson tried just a little too hard to make a difference, chasing everything like an over-eager but clumsy Doberman puppy, and after a booking on 89 he received his second yellow seconds later for a foolish lunge at Rhys Day. Big Marv averred afterwards "I thought the referee was pretty stupid." Ultimately it was honours even and another corking top-of-the-table encounter which saw United remain the Unbeatables. Man of the Match: Mark Albrighton

The fixture fun continued later in the week as the BSP season was shortened by a week to accommodate the playoffs, United's last home game against Torquay now brought forward to a Tuesday night with the final match at Northwich on the Saturday.

Saturday 29th September: Forest Green Rovers 3-1 U's [att: 1,179, away 301]

The visiting U's fans were privileged to be the first to use the brand new away end at FGR's New Lawn, but unfortunately it simply wasn't finished, with filthy recycled seats that had lain gathering dust for a year, temporary chipboard finish, incomplete toilets and no barriers between the stand and the pitch. Overall it came across as the world's first pre-vandalised stand. Rovers' Green Man watering hole was a delight though, especially the large plates of cottage pie, which was far more palatable than the nasty cheap off-the-peg last-minute lemon and blue third strip which United unveiled on the pitch. Hoyte was back for Peters, Stephen Smith was given his first start of the season in place of Reed and Boylan made a welcome reappearance on the bench, but once play commenced Rovers' lively passing game made the U's look sluggish, and United just could not get going.

It was no surprise when FGR took the lead on 37, the BSP's top scorer Stuart Fleetwood outpacing the back line to slot home. After United's worst half of the season so far, they went two down four minutes after the break when Mark Beesley set up Fleetwood again. In desperation the U's went 4-3-3 with Peters pushed up front, which was interesting but not great although Rhino did have a decent penalty shout on 70. Two minutes later Beesley threaded it through again to bring Fleetwood his hat-trick, while all United could manage was an unlucky booking for Convery for 'diving' in the box.

A scant consolation finally arrived in the last minute, Gleeson's deflected cross headed home by lively sub Boylan, but they were emphatically second best on the day their unbeaten record was finally surrendered. It was in fact United's first setback since 4th April at Exeter. After the previous two classics, football as usual found a way of keeping our heads out of the clouds. Man of the Match: Lee Boylan

End of month position: 4th

Andrew Bennett

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