Derby day delight for the U’s as two first half goals secure all three points against Peterborough United in the league cup.
The U’s carried their good recent form in the league into the league cup as two quickfire first half goals secured all the points in this group stage fixture and kept the U’s hopes of progressing to the next round of the cup alive.
A back and forth start to the game as both sides looked lively from the kick off, Jade Bell found herself in behind the Posh back line early on but couldn’t find any teammates to help.
The first real chance of the game fell to the hosts as a superb through ball put Posh in on goal in the 6th minute, only for U’s stopper Lauren Webb to smother the effort out of play.
Following this, the U’s began to hit their stride. After a succession of Lauren Tomlinson long throws came to nothing and a long range effort from Mia Richards was easily saved, the U’s finally broke the deadlock on the 16th minute.
Zoe Wood started the move by superbly intercepting as Posh looked to clear their lines, she then wove her way through a series of challenges from Posh defenders before finding forward Jade Bell who opened her body and curled the ball into the far corner beyond the despairing dive of the Posh keeper; taking her tally up to 6 goals in the last 3 games.
The U’s continued to push after getting the opener and were soon rewarded.
Mia found herself in space around 25-30 yards from goal and unleased a looping half-volley which dipped perfectly over the top of the Posh keeper and into the back of the net, 2-0 U’s after 20 minutes.
Posh tried to find their way back into the game and thought they had one back in the 26th minute only for it to be ruled offside.
The U’s however, continued to be the dominant side in the first half as Bell found herself in on goal but couldn’t quite get enough purchase on the ball to lift it over the onrushing Posh goalkeeper.
In the 38th minute the U’s thought they’d added a third.
A well worked move by the U’s found Zoe Wood on the 18 yard line, Wood unleashed a bending effort which was superbly tipped onto the crossbar by the Posh keeper to just about keep them in the game just before the break.
At the break the U’s made a change as Shannon Shaw was replaced by the returning Bella Simmons for her first minutes since the last game of 2024/25.
The break came at the right time for the hosts as a change in formation and team talk brought new life into the opposition.
A series of half chances and shots from long range were well defended by the U’s defence, in the 71st minute a huge chance fell to Posh as a loose ball fell to the feet of a Posh attacker but their shot was lashed well wide.
Webb continued to stand tall in goal as she did extremely well to save from a diverted cross at close range in the 72nd minute.
However, in the 77th minute the U’s defence was finally breached.
A cross into the box from the right was not dealt with and the ball bundled into the back of the net off a U’s defender rushing back to clear, 2-1.
A tense last 10-15 minutes for the U’s ensued, but Posh couldn’t find their way through a solid Cambridge defence, including a superb last-minute block from Jackson to deny a certain goal and the U’s got their first win of the league cup group stage.
Next up for the U’s is a trip to AFC Sudbury on Sunday 14th as we look to continue our good recent form.
Peterborough United: Corry, Connor (Osker, 62’), Driscoll-King, Sharpe, Perkins (Lawlor, 62’), Stanford (Bennett, 46’), Wilshaw, Clarke (Meli, 62’), Andersen, Curson (James, 46’), Mears
Subs Not Used:
Goalscorers: Own Goal (77’)
Cambridge United: Webb, Miles, Tomlinson, Cheal-Ferris, Jackson, Richards, Stojko-Down (Jarvis, 78’), Bell, Shaw (Simmons, 46’ (Docking, 83’)), Stephenson, Wood
Subs Not Used: Shults, Rouse, Farrow, Marden
Goalscorers: Jade Bell (16’), Mia Richards (20’)
Bookings: None
Attendance: 411