Cambridge United 2 Bristol Rovers 0

 After losing to Stevenage on Tuesday it was back to the Abbey to see if Cambridge could bounce back against Bristol Rovers. They did and in doing so went to the top of the league. It is obviously early doors and Cambridge are probably still amongst the favourites to go down, it is important for them to get points early on, as teams with smaller squads do go through a rough patch at some point in the season when injuries and fatigue start to set in.

Anyway, probably best to enjoy the Us being at the top of the league for now!

The game itself was pretty frustrating for the most part. Neither side created much in the first half. Rovers had the majority of the possession, but didn't seem in any hurry to force the issue and actually go for goal. Cambridge meanwhile didn't seem like they could breakthrough a sturdy Rovers back line, who were too often allowed to mess around with the ball at the back. In the opening games I had been impressed with Gassan Ahadme up front, but he seemed to work better with the pace of Janneh. I am less convinced of how he works with Kachunga. He wasn't really suited to having to run  after long balls, which was what he had to feed off in the first half.

The second half saw a lot more attacking intent, mainly from Cambridge. It was also Cambridge who first decided to do something different up front when they replaced Kachunga with Sullay Kaikai on 63 minutes. This still wasn't quite enough and  Gassan Ahadme was replaced with Fejiri Okenabirhie on 73 minutes and we also saw the more attacking and more experienced left-back, Harrison Dunk come on for Danny Andrew. The changes paid dividends, as on 79 minutes Cambridge finally had a goal when the attacking substitutes combined with Okenabirhie being set up by Kaikai to give the Us the lead.

After the Cambridge goal, it seemed that Bristol Rovers were finally going to attack with some intent and the rest of the game seemed to see wave after wave of attack. It was also two attacking substitutes for Rovers that showed the most promise; the stalwart Scott Sinclair and the young Villa loanee, Lamare Bogarde. 

Cambridge were up to what the Gas threw at them though and in the last few seconds of added time hit their opponents on the break with Okenabirhie setting up Kaikai for the second goal.

It will be interesting to see if Bonner decides to start Okenabirhie and Kaikai when the Us travel to Leyton Orient next weekend.








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