Cambridge make up ground on National League 1 leaders Sale FC with Carrington victory

Cambridge produced arguably their best performance of the season to date during last weekend’s 35-19 win at National League 1 leaders Sale FC.

The home side went into the contest having won their last 10 games in a row and appeared to be on course to extend that record when they took a 19-14 lead with them into the half-time interval.

However, third-placed Cambridge rallied after the restart to close the gap between the two sides to just five points, with Richie Williams’ side also having two games in hand.

After the venue for the fixture was switched to Carrington to beat the frozen conditions, Cambridge got off to a positive start when the in-form Kwaku Asiedu dotted down inside the first minute before Steffan James added the extras.

The hosts responded with a couple of converted tries of their own before the combination of Asiedu and James struck back.

A third Sale try sent them into the break in front, but Cambridge regained the lead five minutes into the second half as Asiedu completed his hat-trick and James was on target with the extras.

Cambridge went on to take control of the contest from that point forwards with a pair of Ben Brownlie tries – both converted by James – completing the job.

On Saturday (January 28) Cambridge have another big encounter when they entertain second-placed Rams, who are two points better off.

Looking ahead to the game, last weekend’s hat-trick hero Asiedu said: “I enjoy these types of games. I’m actually more worried about the ones you’re not too sure about.

“We drew against Leeds before Christmas and sometimes you don’t know what you’re getting from teams like that, but with Rams you know what’s going to happen, they’ll be quick out the blocks and we’ll have to deal with that.

“It’s like Sale, everyone has to bring their A-game and nobody can afford to shy away from it.

“These are the ones you look forward to as a player, it’s why you play the game, and it’s great that it will be at home as well.”