Two goals either side of half-time were enough to give the Blues an extremely hard-fought victory over Northampton this Thursday. A biting wind and a difficult surface meant that neither side was able to get the ball down for long periods of play and the aerial battle, dominated by the excellent Jamie Day, was key to the match.

Within minutes of the whistle blowing, Cambridge had the ball in the back of the net after Jamie Rutt chipped in a clever free-kick and Rick Totten dived to head into the bottom corner, however the linesman’s flag was quickly up with what appeared to be marginally the right decision.

As the first half progressed Cambridge looked increasingly assured, with the left wing proving particularly fertile. The tireless Mark Baxter overlapped repeatedly from full-back and linked up beautifully with winger Rory Griffiths, who was perhaps the player of the half, constantly getting the better of his marker and whipping in some excellent low crosses.

With Rutt controlling the centre of the park, Cambridge were looking the better side but were struggling to convert their dominance into concrete chances.

However, just when it looked as though the teams would be going in all square Griffiths found space down the left and his cross was only half-cleared to Totten. His shot squirmed under the keeper to give the Blues a half-time lead.

The second half had barely got going when Cambridge doubled their lead. A long clearance by Lars Boyde was brought down by striker Haitham Sherif with more than a hint of handball and after exchanging passes with Ryan McCrickerd to send himself through he calmly slid the ball past the advancing keeper into the bottom-right corner.

But just as the Blues began to look comfortable Chris Peacock lost the ball outside his own box and the defence was caught flat-footed as the ball was slid across to the back post and converted before Boyde could get across.

This somewhat unexpected comeback seemed to stir Northampton into life and the pace of the game became frantic. Central midfielders were essentially bypassed as the ball was switched to the wings as quickly as possible. On the right Peacock and Totten combined excellently not only in attack but doubling up on Northampton’s pacy substitute winger.

Sherif, whose confidence had rocketed since his goal and to whom the openness of the game was well suited had a goal ruled out for what seemed a marginal foul, essentially equaling out the questions over the legitimacy of his first goal.

However, as the game neared its conclusion it was Northampton who poured forward. Excellent challenges by Peacock and James Revell were needed to stop two attacks, but the Blues still had to survive two goalmouth scrambles. In the end their win owed more to chance and the bravery of Boyde than to good defending.

The win was, in all, deserved but Cambridge will look to shut out games with more control in the future.