Cambridge United put an end to their recent run of defeats with a tremendous 3-2 win at Wycombe Wanderers…
After Knibbs put the U’s ahead with just 7 minutes on the clock, the home side Blues equalised through Vokes’ close-range header before Lankester’s fine curling effort restored United’s lead at the break
The second half arguably saw Cambridge’s best 45 minutes of the season, as they limited Wycombe’s opportunities at the defensive end and looked as dangerous as ever on the attack. After spurning a number of good opportunities to extend the lead, Jones made sure of the points with around 15 minutes to play.
Although Wing reduced the deficit once more deep into added time, it wasn’t enough for the home side as Cambridge United picked up a first win at Adams Park since 2001.
Mark Bonner made four changes from the side that lost against Port Vale at the weekend, as Okenabirhie was handed his first league start for the Club whilst Ibsen Rossi, Ironside and Simper came in for Taylor, O'Neil, Tracey and Smith.
Eager to right the wrongs of the previous few weeks, the U’s got off to the perfect start when Knibbs ran onto Ironside’s headed knockdown before finishing under Stryjek with a well-struck low finish on just 7 minutes.
Vokes had the ball in the United net just minutes later, but the referee blew the play up for a push by the striker on Williams who was defending the Wycombe man.
Top scorer for the Blues, Mehmeti, kissed the woodwork with a fine effort from the edge of the box on 18 minutes before McCleary fired over from the rebound.
The early lead appeared to spark some much-needed confidence into the men in Amber and they should have doubled their lead with 22 minutes played, as Knibbs won the ball high up the pitch on the left hand side before bursting forward and playing it across for Ironside, who after taking a touch dragged his shot wide of the post.
Five minutes later, a devastating moment for Okenabirhie, who was forced to cut his full league debut short after picking up an injury and the U’s would face a Wycombe bombardment for much of the remainder of the half, as the home side pushed hard for an equaliser.
United defended valiantly as the Chairboys peppered the box with cross after cross, but the hosts got their rewards through Vokes on 35 minutes as the striker headed home from a corner.
Just before the half was up, late drama saw strong appeals for a penalty from the home side turned down, before the U’s broke up the pitch in numbers, which led to Lankester curling home from 20 yards out to put his side back in-front.
Dogged defending and clinical counters were the recipe for a one-goal lead at half-time.
The second half almost started in a similar fashion to the first, as United came close to extending their lead through Ironside, who was played in by his strike partner, Knibbs but after taking a good touch to get the ball out from under his feet, the shot flew just wide of the far post.
Simper forced the Wycombe goalkeeper into a flying parry as he let rip from distance, looking to emulate his goalscoring exploits from seven days prior.
With just over an hour to play, United created their clearest opening of the match as Lankester led the charge down the left before squaring the ball for Ironside, but the United number 9 couldn’t get enough precision or power on his shot to beat the Wycombe number 1.
The late Chairboys onslaught never came. Instead, United managed the latter stages of the second half superbly well to enjoy large periods of control without ever really looking like conceding.
With 13 minutes remaining, Jones secured the victory with his first goal for the Club, ghosting in at the back-post to volley in Simper’s corner, sparking wild celebrations in-front of the travelling fans.
Wycombe came on strong in the closing moments - which included 7 minutes of injury time - and a 98th minute deflected strike from Wing temporarily set United hearts racing, but the whistle blew less than a minute later to give the U’s that winning feeling again ahead of Saturday’s derby at Peterborough.