Cambridge United continue negative run of Sky Bet League One form with home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday

Cambridge United’s tough period continued this afternoon as they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday at the Abbey Stadium.

The U’s, who are now without a goal in any of their last three home outings, have tasted defeat in six of their last seven Sky Bet League One matches – and today’s reverse has seen them drop to 18th in the table ahead of next weekend's home clash against Port Vale.

As was the case in United’s previous home game against Derby County, the visitors’ opener in just the sixth minute came gift wrapped. Granted, the quality of Tyreeq Bankinson’s curled pass from halfway made life difficult for Greg Taylor, but the home side’s skipper seemed to initially be undecided as to how to deal with the danger and by the time he made up his mind his backwards header was badly undercooked. Lee Gregory pounced and after racing into the box he waited for Dimi Mitov to commit to his dive before coolly lifting the ball in for his second goal of the season.

It was the perfect start from a Wednesday perspective, one which allowed them to pick and choose when they ventured forward and when it was right to retain their shape and keep possession.

It was no surprise to see Barry Bannan orchestrating many of their moves into United territory, with the 27-capped former Scotland international finding pockets of space down the left hand side with ease while the home team took time to adapt defensively to playing three at the back.

All the while forays into the Wednesday area had been rare for United but there was a hint of a threat in the 31st minute when Sam Smith used his body well to shield the ball from Ben Heneghan on the right touchline and then turned on the afterburners to hit the byline. From there the forward cut into the box, but his final touch was slightly heavy and it presented goalkeeper David Stockdale with the opportunity to race off his line and make the block.

Up the other end another teasing pass from Bakinson – this time with the outside of his right boot 25 yards from goal – caused some uncertainty between Mitov and Lloyd Jones. Michael Smith was the beneficiary, but his fiercely struck effort was turned around the near post by Mitov.

Those two players were again involved in the thick of the action in the 40th minute as Josh Windass stood up a cross to the back post from the right byline. Michael Smith had a significant height advantage on his marker George Williams, but his downward header was straight at Mitov.

United head coach Mark Bonner reverted to the more usual 4-4-2 formation for the second half and his side responded by producing their brightest moments of the game. A couple of half chances opened up for Harvey Knibbs – one he headed off target while the other was well blocked.

Young midfielder Lewis Simper – making his first league appearance of the season in the absence of the injured Adam May – was next to try his luck on the hour mark but his left footed attempt from 20 yards out was far from clean and drifted harmlessly wide.

Wednesday manager Darren Moore’s frustration on the touchline was clear for all to see, but his team duly put a sluggish start behind them and started to wrestle back some control.

Marvin Johnson’s powerfully struck cross from the left in the 61st minute burst through Mitov’s hands, only for the Bulgarian to react swiftly and claw the ball out from almost underneath his crossbar.

Then in the 64th minute Josh Windass flashed a low ball across the face of the United six-yard box from the right for what looked like a certain second Gregory goal, but a retreating Taylor slid in to deflect the ball behind for a corner.

However, Gregory, who had not scored in his previous seven appearances, did not have to wait much longer to double up his tally for the afternoon. There were 77 minutes on the clock when Wednesday right-back Liam Palmer swung in a cross from deep and the experienced centre-forward saw a far from cleanly struck volley loop up awkwardly and over a flailing Mitov.

It was a moment that killed any momentum left in United’s fightback, with Wednesday seeing out the time that remained in relatively comfortable fashion.

Cambridge United: Mitov, Williams, Jones, Taylor, Brophy, Digby, Simper (Worman 83’), Tracey (Lankester 73’), Knibbs, Smith, Ironside (Okenabirhie 73’)

Sheffield Wednesday: Stockdale, Palmer, Heneghan, Ihiekwe, Vaulks (Dele-Bashiru 90+1'), Bakinson (Byers 69’), Johnson, Bannan, Windass, Smith (McGuinness 69'), Gregory