Cambridge United end long wait for home Sky Bet League One win and goal with come from behind victory over Shrewsbury Town

Boy did Cambridge United need this! They went into today’s Boxing Day encounter against Shrewsbury Town having not scored a Sky Bet League One goal in front of their own fans at the Abbey Stadium in more than 11 and a half hours of football.

That statistic has been a major contributing factor in their slide down towards relegation danger during the last couple of months, so when the visiting Shrews made the breakthrough during the second half against what up until that point had been a toothless United side, that all too familiar feeling started to creep in.

But this time there was a response, not once, but twice as the U’s triumphed 2-1 and won for the first time on home soil in the league since the 2-0 success over Lincoln City on September 3.

Neither side showed only quality of note during a first half that can only be described as drab.

The half’s only shot on target came in the 21st minute when Shrewsbury forward Christian Saydee’s smart reverse pass freed an advancing Jordan Shipley inside the box, but United goalkeeper Will Mannion got two strong hands to his rising effort to turn the ball behind at the near post.

United, meanwhile, failed to work Marko Marosi in the visiting goal, with their opening 45 minutes best being summed up by Jack Lankester’s effort from 25 yards out that cleared the Newmarket Road End.

They also had to contend with the early departure of centre-back Lloyd Jones after he landed awkwardly on his shoulder. Jones, who has been one of United’s stand-out players this term, was replaced by Greg Taylor and the hope will be that he is not sidelined for too long.

United were dealt another injury blow 10 minutes into the second half when left-back Harrison Dunk was stretchered off with what looked to be a leg complaint.

The period after that saw Shrewsbury get on top without looking overly threatening, but that all changed in the 64th minute. It was an eye-catching move that had not been in keeping with the rest of the contest as Rekeil Pyke got away down the right flank and picked out Rob Street, who in turn teed up Saydee to drill a low shot into the bottom left hand corner of Mannion’s net.

The groans around the Abbey were audible but within three minutes they had turned to cheers as the home faithful witnessed their first league goal at the Abbey in more than 12 and a half hours – and what a goal it was.

Joe Ironside – on for the stricken Dunk – held the ball up well before eventually rolling it to Ben Worman midway inside the Shrewsbury half. The young midfielder duly threaded a pass out wide to substitute Shilow Tracey, who faced with two opposition defenders jinked his way inside and from 25 yards out curled his shot into the top corner.

And as is so often the case once a goal drought is ended, one soon became two. There was 78 minutes on the clock when Sam Smith pounced on an error from Shrewsbury centre-back Chey Dunkley just inside the away team’s half. There was still plenty left for United’s number 10 to do as he sped towards goal, but having got into the box he showed the sort of composure that saw him score more than 20 goals last season to put his side in front.

From there on it was all about staying organised, being disciplined and keeping the ball whenever possible. The Abbey started to hold its collective breath as the minutes ticked by, with their chances of victory being boosted in the 87th minute when Shrewsbury substitute Ryan Bowman – only on the pitch for three minutes – was handed a straight red card for an elbow on Taylor.

Seven minutes of time added on followed, during which Shrewsbury loaded the United half, but Mark Bonner’s charges stood firm to move up to 19th and put three points between themselves and the bottom four heading into back-to-back away games at Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday.

Cambridge United: Mannion, Williams, Jones (Taylor 15’), Okedina, Dunk (Ironside 55’), Digby, Worman, Lankester (Tracey 55’), Brophy, Knibbs (Simper 78’), Smith

Shrewsbury: Marosi, Pyke (Bloxham 84’), Dunkley, Pennington, Shipley, Leahy, Winchester, Moore, Bayliss, Saydee, Street (Bowman 88’)