Town’s home game against Cambridge United remains 0-0 at half-time.

Tom Carroll came into the centre of midfield alongside skipper Sam Morsy with Tyreeq Bakinson dropping to the bench.

Conor Chaplin took over from Sone Aluko as one of the number 10s with the Nigerian international also among the subs, as was Idris El Mizouni.

Cambridge were unchanged from the team which beat AFC Wimbledon 1-0 last week with former Blue Paul Digby captaining, while Jack Lankester and former Norwich City forward Wes Hoolahan were on the bench.

After the two teams had taken a knee to applause, the Blues struck the first shot of the game in the second minute. After Wes Burns had made the most of a Cambridge slip, Chaplin played the ball back to Bersant Celina on the edge of the area but the Kosovan international’s effort failed to test Dimitar Mitov.

Two minutes later, with Town starting sloppily, Sam Smith curled a shot through to Christian Walton, registering an early shot on target, something Plymouth were unable to do in the entire 90 minutes last week.

The Blues continued their scrappy start with too many passes going astray and in the 16th minute Cambridge thought they’d gone ahead when Joe Ironside shot into the roof of the net from close range from Harvey Knibbs's flick from a right-wing Smith cross but from an offside position.

Three minutes later, the U’s won a free-kick in a dangerous position on the right after Cameron Burgess had fouled George Williams with Cambridge claiming in vain the offence was inside the area.

James Brophy played the ball to the unmarked Adam May on the edge of the box and his goalbound shot was blocked by Luke Woolfenden.

From the resultant corner Cambridge went close again, Walton reacting superbly to tip Williams’s close range header over the bar when it looked like the visitors were certain to go in front.

And Town couldn’t have complained if they had been behind with the U’s on top with the Blues having struggled to get going. However as the game passed the 25-minute mark Town began to take control and dominate possession in the manner which has become familiar since Kieran McKenna took charge.

On 31 Burgess wasn’t far away from scoring his first Town goal when a Chaplin cross from the left following a corner whipped across the area but just too far in front of him as the former Australia U23 international flung his head towards it.

A minute later, Celina headed into the ground straight at Mitov from a Chaplin cross from the right.

Town chances were starting to come regularly and in the 35th minute Morsy hit a snapshot from just inside the area which Mitov saved down to his left.

At the other end, Woolfenden used his strength to hold off Ironside and win the ball with the Cambridge striker breaking in on goal.

The game briefly boiled over in the 38th minute after a clash between Dominic Thompson and Williams. James Norwood shoved Williams, then Smith got involved and swung an arm towards the Town striker before retreating towards his team’s bench as referee Craig Hicks sought to restore order.

Norwood was booked and eventually Smith was called over and was also shown a yellow card and was somewhat fortunate that his involvement wasn’t considered more serious.

As the half moved into its penultimate minute, Norwood played a clever pass down the left and Chaplin struck a deflected effort through to Mitov.

Walton superbly caught a corner under pressure before Norwood blocked off Harrison Dunk right in front of the dugouts and was lucky not to be shown a second yellow card.

The scoreline remained level at the break with Cambridge having given the Blues a far tougher game that Plymouth a week ago and other sides nearer to the top of the division.

Town started uncharacteristically slowly with too many passes failing to find blue shirts and they couldn’t have complained had the U’s gone in front via their disallowed goal.

However, the Blues began to get their passing going in the final 20 minutes and created one or two decent chances but with the visitors defending resolutely and in numbers when out of possession.

Town: Walton, Donacien, Woolfenden, Burgess, Burns, Carroll, Morsy (c), Thompson, Chaplin, Celina, Norwood. Subs: Hladky, Penney, Bakinson, El Mizouni, Aluko, Bonne, Pigott.

Cambridge: Mitov, Williams, Digby (c), Jones, Brophy, Ironside, Smith, Dunk, Okedina, May, Knibbs. Subs: Mannion, Iredale, Hoolahan, Tolaj, Lankester, Sherring, Worman. Referee: Craig Hicks (Surrey).

Photo: Matchday Images

blueboy1981 added 16:04 - Apr 2 All possession - no Punch in that Final Third again. We should not have a problem with the likes of Cambridge … !!! - with all due respects to them.
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grow_our_own added 16:06 - Apr 2 "Ironside shot into the roof of the net from close range from Harvey Knibbs's flick from a right-wing Smith cross but from an offside position" - was onside: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15Q4RuaIq3d8DOIbcUW5rt4BX1IssoHum
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Suffolkboy added 16:17 - Apr 2 Can't imagine the coaches will be sitting quietly at half time ; by now they'll have worked out what gets individuals going AND no doubt will remind big mouth Norwood that his presence on the field is rather more valuable than a second yellow / red . JN needs to bottle his emotions , turn his anger/ frustration into physical and controlled aggression - otherwise he's no B good to us ! Disappointing to read of a sloppy start ,and it signals we still need to find backbone ,character and drive to motivate the ‘stragglers ‘ and improve the performances . KM will be well appraised of the deficiencies and let's hope ITFC turn their hands to the wheel with success in the second half ! COYB

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Rimsy added 16:25 - Apr 2 What's Norwood doing on the pitch, useless.
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blueboy1981 added 16:34 - Apr 2 Rotation is, and will not work. Success is a settled team that understand one another - we have that in Defence, but a million miles away from that in the Final Third. Simply put - nowhere near good enough by far.
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