Cambridge United 3-2 Mansfield Town match report: Michael Morrison, Josh Stokes and Ryan Loft all score as Garry Monk’s men survive late fightback to move off the bottom of League One table

Cambridge United moved off the bottom of the League One table thanks to this lunchtime’s 3-2 victory over Mansfield Town at the Cledara Abbey Stadium.

The U’s, who were winless from their previous eight games in all competitions, dropped to the foot of the standings on Tuesday night after Burton Albion ran out 2-1 winners away at Wigan Athletic.

But ahead of this afternoon’s kick-offs, Garry Monk’s men are up to 21st and the gap to safety has been cut to five points – although they made life hard for themselves in the closing stages after goals from Michael Morrison, Josh Stokes and Ryan Loft had put them well in the ascendancy.

The first half was arguably the most comfortable that United have been all season – a large part of which was down to two goals being scored inside the opening seven minutes.

There was just 48 seconds on the clock when the hosts took the lead through captain Morrison, who forced the ball home from close range after Stokes’ scuffed shot had been blocked by Deji Oshilaja.

And it was Stokes that went on to double the early advantage from the penalty spot after he had been upended by Mansfield skipper Kilgour. It was the playmaker’s second goal in consecutive weeks after he opened his League One account last week at Bolton Wanderers.

The remainder of the half saw Cambridge largely on the front foot with neat spells in possession, but the lack of a final pass or finish prevented them from adding to their lead further.

Meanwhile, at the other end it had been a quiet afternoon for new Cambridge goalkeeper Marko Marosi on his home debut until the 39th minute when he was forced off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. The 31-year-old looked distraught as he limped off to be replaced between the posts by Jack Stevens.

As the players filed out for the start of the second half there was an over-riding sense that the next goal was going to be of vital importance – and United wasted little time in scoring it.

In the 47th minute Mansfield failed to clear Stokes’ near-post corner from the left and when the ball broke for Ryan Loft, he unleashed a shot full of venom that flew into the roof of the net. The 27-year-old has endured a tough start to life with United following his summer switch from Port Vale due to a combination of injury and poor form, but having opened his goalscoring tally for the club in such fine style, the hope will be that he can use that moment as a building block.

It did not take visiting manager Nigel Clough long to ring the changes with a triple substitution – and within six minutes it had paid dividends. Given that Stevens had been forced to turn Will Evans’ header on to the crossbar moments before, perhaps United were guilty of taking their foot off the throttle to a degree. And from the resultant corner former Cambridge frontman George Maris – one of the three players introduced off the bench – slammed the ball in from 10 yards out with 61 minutes played.

Mansfield continued to probe thereafter but it seemed as though United had seen off their threat until the 86th minute when Zeno Ibsen Rossi was adjudged to have fouled Ben Waine inside the box. In making the challenge the U’s centre-back suffered an arm injury that forced him off the pitch – leaving the hosts down to 10 men having made all of their substitutions – and the nerves were further ramped up when Lee Gregory’s penalty was rifled into the top corner.

The following eight minutes of stoppage time felt tortuous for the majority of those inside the Abbey, but the Amber Army clung on to record a much-needed victory ahead of Tuesday night’s trip to Rotherham United.

Cambridge United: Marosi (Stevens 40’), Watts, Morrison, Rossi, Bennett (Okedina 82’), Andrew (Gibbons 82’), Cousins, Brophy, Stokes, Kachunga (Njoku 82’), Loft (Digby 71’)

Mansfield Town: Pym, Oshilaja, Flint, Kilgour, Hewitt (Boateng 55’), Blake-Tracy, Lewis (McLaughlin 55’), Baccus, Reed (Maris 55’), Akins (Gregory 83’), Evans (Waine 65’)

Attendance: 6,687. Referee: Thomas Parsons