Cambridge United earn consecutive draws as their winless run continues

Looking at the fixture list before the start of the season, Cambridge United fans would’ve been quite concerned about their run of games in October.

The U’s were scheduled to face two of League One’s title favourites, Ipswich Town and Sheffield Wednesday, in the space of just four days.

Their fears were made worse by the club’s winless run, with their last victory coming against Portsmouth on September 18th. Mark Bonner’s side went on to draw their home tie against Fleetwood Town and lose to Gillingham the following Tuesday, before needing a last-gasp Adam May equaliser to earn a point from their trip to Crewe Alexandra.

The international break was welcomed by some, but Bonner was concerned that his side wouldn’t be fresh for their clash against Ipswich at The Abbey. After all, the Tractor Boys did have a game the previous weekend, beating Shrewsbury Town 2-1.

Bonner’s ominous feelings unfortunately came to fruition, as his side once again fell behind to an early goal. Sone Aluko was played clean through on goal, chipping the ball over a hesitant Dimitar Mitov into the back of the net. Once again, Cambridge had fallen behind just a matter of minutes after kick-off having conceded inside the opening 10 minutes in three of their four previous games.

After 36 minutes, the game looked out of reach for the U’s. Mitov failed to claim an inswinging corner, allowing Aluko to pop up at the back post and tap the ball into an empty net for his brace. The hosts had a mountain to climb again as they found themselves 2-0 down.

This time, however, Cambridge gave themselves something to build off in the second half. Just five minutes before the break, Shilow Tracey set up James Brophy to rifle a powerful shot past Václav Hladký. Finally, the U’s had started to turn the momentum, and it was a sign of things to come.

For all their dominance and attacking threat in the first 45 minutes, Ipswich found themselves on the back foot for large parts of the second half. It took until the 88th minute for Cambridge to finally equalise, with Joe Ironside rising highest to head home a recycled corner from close range.

It was nothing less than they deserved. In front of a sold-out Abbey Stadium for the first time in more than four years, Cambridge had once again battled back against the odds to stun their East Anglian rivals.

Given Ipswich’s disastrous start to the campaign, this was perhaps not a surprise. Fans had long since criticised manager Paul Cook’s game management, especially after their humiliating defeat away at Accrington Stanley. The Tractor Boys have consistently lost their heads when going into the lead, and this was on show for all to see at The Abbey.

Cambridge, while jubilant with the point, were left ruing the fact that they’d given another opponent a two-goal head start. They were outclassed in the early stages of the game, as has been the case in almost all of their recent games. If they wanted to get back to winning ways, this would have to change.

That’s exactly what happened when Sheffield Wednesday visited The Abbey on a rainy Tuesday night just four days later. Rather than crumble in the opening stages as they had done previously, the U’s got off to a lightning-fast start.

While their threat from open play remained constant, it was a set-piece goal that gave the hosts the lead. George Williams connected with Jack Iredale’s powerful corner, flicking his header past Bailey Peacock-Farrell. A right-back assisting a left-back, who would’ve thought?

It was the first time that Cambridge were in front in a league game since their win at Portsmouth.

Given their first-half dominance, there was genuine optimism that they could quickly double their advantage and put the game to bed. Ultimately, they couldn’t take their chances and faced a rejuvenated Owls side after the restart. The visitors’ immense quality soon became evident, with Barry Bannan pulling the strings in midfield while the likes of Saido Berahino and Olamide Shodipo were brought off the bench to try and level the scores.

Eventually, they broke the U’s resistance, with Berahino’s pass splitting their defence in half, allowing Fisayo Dele-Bashiru to burst into the box and fire a powerful shot past Mitov.

This was, as expected, the sucker punch, and Darren Moore’s side were presented with multiple opportunities to win the game in the dying embers. They pinned the U’s inside their own defensive third, but couldn’t create enough chances to steal what would’ve been an undeserved winner.

Given the size of Cambridge as a club, consecutive draws against third-tier giants in Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday is incredibly impressive. An even bigger testament to how far they’ve come is the fact that they were left frustrated not to win either game.

Playing in front of a capacity crowd against the Tractor Boys and a near sell-out against the Owls also created an immense atmosphere, something that has rarely been the case in recent years at The Abbey. Speaking to Prost International, Bonner explained that he hoped this would convince more fans to return for future games.

“Hopefully we get a decent turnout for the game against Wimbledon, because I think people will like what they’ve seen. If people have come who don’t usually, they might think about coming.

“The only way we grow this club is by growing the support base, so we want to build a team that people want to come and see, and we want to gradually try and increase that gate and that crowd.

“I think when you see performances like that and games like that, an atmosphere like that is worth coming.”

This experience will do wonders for his side, who will no doubt gain immeasurable confidence from their performances against players that the U’s head coach dubbed as “Championship quality”. Cambridge more than held their own in both matches, and their draw against Sheffield Wednesday will hopefully end their record of slow starts in games, as Bonner explained to Prost International after the game.

“We’ve got to try and make that happen as often as we can, but the team we play next will see how we’ve started the game and will be ready for it. We’ve got to try and make sure we hit that level again, it takes a lot to rev yourself up for that.

“I’ve felt that coming since Saturday, the way we’ve spoken and the way we’ve done things, the players mentality in the dressing room before the game. I didn’t say a word tonight, I didn’t need to say a word to the players before the game, you just knew they were there.

“Diggers (Paul Digby) was a man possessed in the dressing room. Liam O’Neil, Harrison Dunk and Greg Taylor voicing in the dressing room. Gary (Waddock), Barry (Corr), all the boys. You just know sometimes that your team is there and they’re going to be where you need them at the start of the game.

“We’ve got to try and find that mentality again, and it’s hard to find that every three or four days, but that’s the challenge.”

However, Cambridge’s winless run keeps rolling on. By the time the U’s head to Shrewsbury on Saturday, it will have been more than a month since they last won a league game. That being said, given the strength of opposition that they’ve faced, Bonner can be forgiven for focusing on the fact that they’ve only lost once in that time.

The U’s do need to start winning games of football, however, and that has to start in Shropshire this weekend. Their opponents find themselves inside the relegation zone with just 11 points from 14 games and the third-worst attacking record in the division.

The Shrews do have an impressive home record though, and notably claimed the scalp of high-flying MK Dons in their last match at the Montgomery Waters Meadow. While this may be an easier task than what they’ve faced in recent weeks, Cambridge can’t underestimate Steve Cotterill’s side under any circumstances.

Wes Hoolahan should be available to return to the starting lineup after his traditional absence from the U’s midweek fixtures. Liam O’Neil and Jack Lankester are both ruled out of Saturday’s clash due to injury, with the former looking at an extended spell on the sidelines.

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