Town’s long wait for a league victory at the Abbey Stadium continues after the Blues were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by Cambridge United. Harvey Knibbs gave the U’s the lead on 24, before Town keeper Christian Walton saved a penalty from Joe Ironside eight minutes later. The Blues made three changes at the break and one of those subs, Kyle Edwards, created an equaliser for Freddie Ladapo nine minutes after the restart but Kieran McKenna’s men were unable to find a winning goal.
Town named the same team which beat Morecambe 4-0 at Portman Road 11 days ago with Leif Davis and Wes Burns both fit enough to start having returned to training following minor knocks in midweek.
Davis was in his usual role wide on the left with Burns on the right with Harry Clarke, George Edmundson, Richard Keogh at the back and Walton in goal.
Skipper Sam Morsy was alongside Lee Evans in the centre of midfield with Nathan Broadhead and 15-goal top scorer Conor Chaplin behind central striker Ladapo.
Cambridge made one change from the side which drew 0-0 at Lincoln last week with Knibbs coming into the side for Ben Worman, who dropped to the bench.
Former Blues midfielder Paul Digby skippered, while ex-Town forward Jack Lankester was on the bench alongside one-time Portman Road trialist Shilow Tracey.
Ryan Bennett, released by the Blues' academy at 16, and Suffolk-born Michael Morrison started at the heart of their defence, their first starts for the U’s at the Abbey Stadium since joining - in Morrison’s case rejoining - the club earlier in the month.
Town started on top and in the third minute Chaplin scuffed a volley from the left of the area after a very long Clarke throw from the right had reached him. Another two minutes later also reached the forward but he was unable to get in a shot.
The game quickly settled into a pattern, Cambridge sitting back in their half of the field as the Blues looked to find a way through them.
On 16, Broadhead, Davis and Chaplin interchanged on the edge of the area on the left as they sought to find space to shoot with the latter eventually hitting an effort which was blocked.
Five minutes later, Evans scuffed a free-kick from 30 yards wide, Clarke having been caught by Digby as he took the ball past the former Town man.
Aside from Walton catching a cross, Cambridge had shown nothing going forward but in the 24th minute they went in front via their first shot of the afternoon.
Edmundson miscontrolled the ball out of play on the Town left and from the throw, Digby played it to Knibbs, who brought it forward down the middle before hitting a powerful shot which beat Walton to his right.
Three minutes after taking the lead, the home side had another opportunity, Knibbs digging out a cross from the left towards Joe Ironside at the far post. Home fans claimed the striker had been fouled by Davis but the linesman’s flag was raised, saving referee Sam Barrott a decision.
But just after the half hour, with Town still to recover from conceding the goal, the U’s were awarded a penalty.
Edmundson clumsily felled Conor McGrandles in the area on the left but play continued and Knibbs found the net. However, referee Barrott had already blown and pointed to spot, much to the home side’s frustration.
Ironside took the kick and hit it low and hard to Walton’s right but the keeper got across to brilliantly tip it round the post. The Blues number one celebrated as he might as his teammates congratulated him.
From the flag-kick, Cambridge claimed another penalty but the ball clearly hit Keogh’s back rather than hand.
On 40, Morsy was booked for bodychecking Knibbs midway inside the Cambridge half with the Blues still huffing and puffing against a determined backline, while the home side were presenting more of a threat on their forays forward.
The half-time whistle was met with cheers and applause by the home fans and by one or two boos from the Town support.
Having started in control but without being able to create a serious chance, the Blues had allowed Knibbs a free shot at goal at a time when the U's had shown nothing going forward.
The Blues seemed to be rocked by conceding and Cambridge would have doubled their lead had referee Barrott allowed play to continue after Edmundson’s foul rather than immediately pointing to the spot. Fortunately for Town he did and Walton made a very impressive penalty stop.
Town had most of the ball in the Cambridge half in the latter stages of the half but without finding a way through the massed ranks of the Cambridge defence with home keeper Dimitar Mitov still to make a save.
The Blues made three changes at the break, at least some of them likely to have been forced by injury. Davis, who had been a doubt going into the match, Evans, who had undergone treatment during the opening period, and Clarke replaced by Edwards, harshly red-carded at the Abbey earlier in the season in a Papa Johns Trophy tie, Marcus Harness and Janoi Donacien.
Town went about looking for a goal, Ladapo looping an early header into Mitov’s arms from a right-sided cross.
On 50, an Edwards shot from just outside the area on the left deflected wide for a Town corner in front of their fans.
However, in the aftermath of the flag-kick, the ball was cleared and Keogh found himself in a foot race with Sam Smith, which the Cambridge man won. But the veteran defender used all his experience and guile to slow the striker up and Walton dived in at his feet to claim, taking a boot to the head for his trouble. After treatment, the Town keeper was able to continue.
Edwards, who scored twice against the U’s at Portman Road in the 3-0 win earlier in the season, had had an impact since coming on and in the 54th minute, the winger created the Blues’ equaliser.
The former West Brom man tricked his way round the outside of Liam Bennett, not for the first time, before sending over a cross which Ladapo steered across Mitov and just inside the post. The striker celebrated his 14th goal of the season with the travelling 1,400 fans behind the goal.
Just before the hour, Burns was tripped on the right by James Brophy, just outside the area. Chaplin smashed the free-kick through a crowd of players, Mitov blocked and the ball fell kindly for Cambridge, who cleared.
Two minutes later, a Chaplin shot from just outside the area caught a defender on its way wide with the Blues well on top and playing at a higher tempo in the first period. From the corner, Edmundson won the ball in the air but couldn’t make a clean contact.
Town almost made it 2-1 in the 63rd minute, Harness clipping over a cross from the right for Ladapo, who flicked a header towards the far post where Chaplin just failed to get a touch as he slid in.
The Blues continued to dominate and on 66, after a long spell of Town possession, was fed in on the right of the box but shot high and wide from a tight angle.
Cambridge were forced into a change four minutes later after Lloyd Jones suffered a knock, George Williams taking over on the left of the home side’s back three.
On 73, Burns was played in down the right by Harness, but the Welshman’s cross flew across the six-yard box too high for anyone to get a touch. As the U’s prepared to restart, Town swapped Chaplin for George Hirst.
The on-loan Leicester man was involved immediately, chasing a Morsy pass played into the right of the area and cutting across to Broadhead, who got a touch but while colliding with Mitov, who claimed and required treatment for a knock to his hand before continuing.
In the 76th minute, Donacien was played in on the right of the box and chipped over a cross which took a deflection and looped goalwards but Mitov was able to stop it, not entirely comfortably before claiming.
Soon after, Cambridge won a corner and subsequently kept the ball in and around the area with the Blues struggling to clear their lines but eventually getting the ball away.
In the 81st minute, Town switched Broadhead for Cameron Humphreys, while the U’s replaced Ironside with Tracey.
With the game in six minutes of injury time, Liam Bennett broke away on the Cambridge right and sent over a teasing cross, but no teammate had reached the area. Soon after, following a U’s free-kick not far outside the Town area, Digby was booked for pulling back Harness as Town counter-attacked.
The Blues continued to look for a winner, a Edwards corner was cleared as was a Donacien long throw with the Cambridge defence remaining resolute.
Town, whose only win at the Abbey remains a League Cup win in 1993, had been much better after the break and the equaliser, excellently created by Edwards, coming as early as it did gave them ample opportunity to push on for the winner.
But, while they dominated, the Blues didn’t create too many further clear-cut opportunities with Broadhead’s chance from Hirst’s cut-back perhaps the best, while the U’s remained a regular threat on the break.
Another draw against opposition they ought to be beating sees the Blues lose ground on the teams behind them, fourth-placed Derby and Bolton in fifth both having won. Town are now only two points ahead with the Rams having a game in hand on them and the Trotters having played a match more.
Sheffield Wednesday’s 1-0 home victory over Plymouth means the Owls are now top on goal difference ahead of the Pilgrims with Town six points behind ahead of Wednesday’s visit to Portman Road next Saturday.
Cambridge: Mitov, Digby (c), Jones (Williams 70), Brophy, Ironside (Tracey 81), Smith, R Bennett, Morrison, McGrandles, Knibbs, L Bennett. Unused: Mannion, Haunstrup, Lankester, Okedina, Worman.
Town: Walton, Clarke (Donacien 46), Keogh, Edmundson, Burns, Morsy (c), Evans (Harness 46), Davis (Edwards 46), Chaplin (Hirst 73), Broadhead (Humphreys 81), Ladapo. Unused: Hladky, Jackson. Referee: Sam Barrott (West Riding). Att: 7,154 (Town: 1,485).