Craven's Marks Out Of Ten

GK Bart Griemink | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals Conceded: 2 | Rating: 6

The Bart-man could not be faulted for either goal, but cannot be truly appraised thanks to the fact that ‘Dale managed a total of two shots on target in the match as a whole – and both went in. He did command his area well, but was beaten by Gary Jones’ outstanding twenty-yard drive that would have beaten any goalkeeper in League Two (not least his team-mate, the stocky Neil Edwards), and was then sent the wrong way by the same player’s spot-kick.

RB Duncan Jupp | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 7

MotM: That Juppy scoops our Man-of-the-Match award with a rating of 7 says a lot about the team’s performance in the match as a whole rather than his own. For his own part it was his best performance of the season so far (a period of three games admittedly) that was undermined slightly by his part in the opening strike. His slip allowed Grant Holt to square for Jones to curl into the top-right-hand corner, but after that the former Wimbledon man was keen to atone for his mistake, and he held off any challenges well, even if sometimes his distribution was a little wayward and he did slip over again in the second period.

CB Andy Edwards | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 6

Edwards seemed to have a rather innocuous game, and instead it was his defensive partners that were the more involved in the game. Eagle, like Spencer Prior, proved a little slow at the back and with Cambridge being the sort of team that rely more on pace than aerial prowess there is a huge case for one of the ex-Shrimpers to be dropped in favour of Adam Barrett on Saturday. Edwards’ aerial presence may just mean that he gets the nod.

CB Spencer Prior | Minutes on pitch: 50 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 5

Spinner had a shocker, and appears to be the worst, especially if the most expensive, of Steve Tilson’s summer signings at the moment, although he still has plenty of time to improve and grow into the role. Dirty ‘Dale front man Grant Holt seemed to have him in his pocket for the 50 minutes that he was on the field, and when he hobbled off, it was a relief to many who may remember his glory days.

LB Nicky Nicolau | Minutes on pitch: 62 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 5

Unfortunately for left-back Nicolau, he was no better, and even had the temerity to try and pretend that he did not realise that he was being substituted when his number came up. The 20-year-old was beaten by the troublesome Leo Bertos for pace on more than one occasion during a torrid first period, and was unable to get forward at all to support Carl Pettefer. He was rightly taken off, and as I have campaigned for in the past, Che Wilson deserves his chance now.

RM Mark Gower | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 4

It goes from bad to worse for the midfielder, who finally settled on a right-midfield spot but still somehow managed to put in a lethargic, and some may label, lazy display. The greatest difficulty that all Shrimpers supporters have with the Edmonton-born talent is that he is such a fantastic player, but he appears reluctant to show it, and at the moment his place in the starting line-up id as vulnerable as Prior, Nicolau or Gray’s.

CM Mark Bentley | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 6.5

The ex-Dagenham & Redbridge man certainly gave his all in the centre of the park, and had it not been for some of his raiding runs, then Blues would really have been in trouble. During the opening 45 minutes especially he managed to surge forwards on a number of occasions to get in shots that were blocked by Lancastrian bodies, and then had one audacious back-heel sadly fail to beat Edwards in the Rochdale net.

CM Kevin Maher | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 6

Captain Kev at least tried his hardest, although for his sins he did manage to pick up something almost as common as Michelle from Big Brother – another caution for dissent. He carried on mouthing off to the ref, but thankfully avoided the book. Maher did actually pass the ball forwards (sometimes), but more and more often was called upon to cover advances from the back, and really couldn’t effect anything special.

LM Carl Pettefer | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 6.5

The young midfielder was another that you could not fault for effort if you could pick holes in for technical mistakes. Rather like Bentley, at times he had a tendency to over-elaborate, a problem that meant that United could not capitalise on the fact that their opponents only had ten men for forty minutes. He was all alone at all times on the left flank, and only got any support when he moved latterly to the right.

CF Drewe Broughton | Mins on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 6

Big Drewe was back to his carthorse-like best (or worst if you prefer) today. In the first half he missed a hat-trick of headers and also miscued or mislaid attempted passes and shots, and followed that up by really failing to get involved in a three-pronged attack during the second half. Broughton, though, will battle hard, and you always get the proverbial 110%.

CF Wayne Gray | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 4.5

Wayne Gay or Wayne Day? You decide. After Lincoln, I think everyone expected a bit more power, aggression and confidence in front of goal. However, this did not materialise and we were left with Mark Rawle rather than the Thierry Henry that he looked like. Actually, Mark Rawle might be too much praise…

CB Adam Barrett | Minutes on pitch: 40 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 6.5

Barrett looked mightily impressive at the back, and was the man that was tasked with driving the team forwards in the second half. He did so with great gusto, even going so far as to rifle in a couple of long-range shots that cannoned off of Broughton and went away from goal. On another day he would have seen one deflect in. Harsh penalty decision as the ball struck his arm from just yards away, and even flicked up off of his knee, but you could (sort of) see why the referee gave it.

CF Lawrie Dudfield | Mins on pitch: 28 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 5.5

Dudders spurned the two best chances for the Shrimpers in the space of just seconds. As a cross was fired in he first attempted to back-flick the ball past Neil Edwards, and then having seen that initial shot parried out, he lashed the rebound over the crossbar from no more than five yards. It is a chance he could regret missing.