REPORT: Cambridge 3-1 Cheltenham Town
Cambridge United ran out 3-1 winners against Cheltenham Town on a tough afternoon for The Robins at The Cambs Glass Stadium.Uche Ikpeazu opened the scoring early on as he tormented the away side with his pace and power in the first half.
After the break Luke Berry scored twice through a header and a smart finish to put Cambridge into a three-goal lead.
But Billy Waters scored a late consolation goal for Cheltenham to make the scoreline look a little bit more respectable as Gary Johnson’s men returned home empty handed.
Cheltenham made two changes to the side that lost to Colchester in midweek as Jack Barthram and Aaron Downes came into the starting line-up.
It took just seven minutes for Cambridge to take the lead as Ikpeazu was given space on the left hand side of the box to turn and unleash a deflected shot, which was wrong-footed Russell Griffiths to nestle into the far bottom corner of the net.
Ten minutes later Ikpeazu was causing problems again as he took advantage of a Downes slip to run into space and cross the ball to Luke Berry, but his side-footed shot was fantastically blocked by the body of Dan Parslow.
The Robins grew into the game after that difficult early spell and forced a number of corners as they looked to create some chances, with the most notable opportunity coming when Danny Wright’s header was deflected just over the cross bar.
However, neither team was able to carve out another clear-cut chance and the sides went into the break with Cambridge leading 1-0.
After the interval it was Cheltenham who came out and started stronger but they failed to make their possession pay and it was actually the home side who scored next.
On 55 minutes The Robins failed to clear the ball when given the chance to after Cambridge broke through a quick counter attack, and a cross from the left found the head of Berry who nodded the ball into the top corner.
Things got even worse for Cheltenham 20 minutes later when Berry picked up the ball on the edge of the box, took it to the right and hit a low shot past Griffiths and into the bottom left corner.
With five minutes to go the ball fell to the feet of Waters in the Cambridge box after a spell of pinball, and the striker turned and finished well from close range to pull a goal back.
Cambridge United: W Norris, G Taylor, J Dunne, M Roberts, L Legge (C), P Mingoia (H Dunk, 87), L Berry (S Long, 90), G Maris (B Williamson, 54), M Clark, U Ikpeazu, B Halliday.
Unused Subs: D Gregory, B Adams, T Dallison, J Pigott.
Cheltenham Town: R Griffiths, A Downes (C), D Parslow (A Morgan-Smith, 65), R Dickie, J Cranston, J Barthram (E Suliman, 45), J Rowe, K Storer, B Waters, D Holman (J Dayton, 36), D Wright.
Unused Subs: C Kitscha, D O’Shaughnessy, J Munns, K Arthur.