Young U's rue missed chances
HAVING met on the previous Tuesday, Cambridge and Gillingham provided another well fought and competitive fixture.
The two teams started well out of the blocks and during the early moments some tense exchanges were made with no real threat for either goalkeeper.
The game started to open up as time lapsed and after some good exchanges in the U's midfield, some slick passing led to an opening on the right for Mason and Hogan who combined well and delivered from wide, however the finishing touch lacked.
Soon after Gillingham’s early resilience paid off as a move down there right hand side and a flighted cross got the better of the U's back four and was met with a leaping header at the back post which flew in past the back of the net.
Cambridge looked bright from the restart and minutes later Hogan was brought down in the penalty area, however the referee didn't give the spot-kick, leaving the U's feeling hard done by.
The second half was not slow to start and some early exchanges resulted in United mounting on the pressure from some good play in and around the area. A through ball saw Gillingham's goalkeeper receive a caution as he wiped out Doyle right on the edge of the penalty area. The resulting free kick saw Joynes put the ball narrowly wide.
Shortly after, some slick passing allowed Doyle to slide in Brown who put in a low driven cross from the right which caused confusion in the Gills back four and ended up in their own net.
Gillingham mounted pressure shortly after the goal and caused Cambridge United plenty of problems for a good spell, however the young U's team were resilient with Williams and Burniston both making vital blocks, keeping the scores level.
As the game developed Cambridge carved out three clear chances, two with open goals being missed and a one-on-one which on a better day would have been converted. First points on the board for the young Cambridge United team.
FT: U's 1-1 Gillingham
Tom Donati - Youth Team Coach