A sunny day set the scene for Cambridge United's second Sky Bet League One win in a row under Neil Harris, with a thoroughly deserved 2-0 victory over Crawley Town…
Elias Kachunga opened the scoring on 33 minutes, bundling the ball home from close range, before Paul Digby made sure of the points at the mid-point of the second half, as United leapfrogged their relegation rivals to move within six points of safety.
An unchanged line up was named for the game, with the only change to the squad being the inclusion of Dan Nlundulu on the bench following his return from injury.
The hosts first chance of the game just a matter of seconds into the action - Kamari Doyle firing wide from outside the box. United responded immediately from Crawley's sharp start, as Kell Watts whistled an effort past the post from the edge of the box.
It only took referee, James Oldham, nine minutes to dish out his first booking, when Digby's mistimed tackle on Dion Conroy was considered worth of a yellow card.
With the 1200+ travelling fans in strong voice, a physical and determined looking United continued to battle during the opening stages of the game. Ryan Loft got his head to a looping cross from Stokes in the 18th minute, but failed to find the target. The push and pull of the early stages continued as Harry Forster returned United's favour by missing a header of his own.
Pressure continued to swing, which saw Crawley with the next decent opportunity as they beat multiple United men to have several attempts at Nathan Bishop's goal, to no avail or shots on target.
However, United made it count with just over half an hour played as Elias Kachunga headed the ball home after an in-swinging corner taken by James Brophy invited a mistake from Crawley keeper, Woollacott. This added to Kachunga's tally as United's leading goal scorer of the season, totalling seven.
The boys in their floral blue kit finished the opening half strong with momentum firmly falling to them in the latter of the first 45.
United were forced to defend resolutely during the early stages of the second half, as Crawley looked to wipe out the deficit with some early pressure. Strong defensive efforts fended off attacks from the Reds, and allowed Ryan Loft an ambitious shot from just beyond the half-way line which landed just shy of the target, attempting to exploit their keeper off his line.
With 30 minutes to go, things unravelled for Crawley, when the referee reached for his red for Hepburn-Murphy, after an unlawful encounter with Kachunga in United's box, furthering the advantage for the U’s beyond the scoreline. It didn’t take long for United to capitalise, with Digby seizing the opportunity to receive a quick cross from Brophy – who did brilliantly to beat his man down the outside - before smashing the ball into the roof of the opposition net.
The drama continued as the U’s man advantage was quickly taken away as James Gibbons received a straight red for a misjudged lunge on a Crawley man in the defensive half. Neil Harris reacted by bringing off Josh Stokes in place of Okedina, who stepped into the left-back position.
After two changes from the Crawley side, United followed suit and the opportunity came for Dan Nlundulu to make his United comeback after a period out with injury, taking the place of Ryan Loft whilst goalscorer Kachunga, was relieved by Ben Stevenson.
A busy five minutes saw United continued to look dogged in their attack, and Nlundulu impressed upon his return, occupying his markers and keeping the U’s up the pitch. The final opportunity to add a finishing touch to the scoreline came when Brophy struck from 20 yards, out but overshot the target.
In the end it was a comfortable finale to the match, as United picked up only their second away win of the season, ahead of Stevenage’s visit on Tuesday.