Cambridge United start life without Mark Bonner by hammering Fleetwood Town to reach FA Cup third round

How often does it happen? A club parts company with their manager and next time out the team turns on the style and picks up a positive result. It seems to be one of the quirks of football and it happened at the Abbey Stadium this afternoon as Cambridge United chalked up a 4-0 victory over fellow Sky Bet League One side Fleetwood Town in the second round of the Emirates FA Cup.

It came just three days after the club announced with a heavy heart the departure of head coach and boyhood fan Mark Bonner, who had overseen just one victory from the last 13 games in all competitions.

First-half goals had been particularly hard to come by in the final weeks of Bonner’s tenure. Indeed, since their second game of season - ironically against Fleetwood - United had scored just twice in the opening 45 minutes of matches against non-league Bracknell Town in the previous round at Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s in the EFL Trophy.

But with a former striker in Barry Corr in the dugout as interim boss alongside Kevin Betsy, Cambridge rattled in three quickfire goals without reply before the break - the first time that they have scored a trio of goals in the opening half of any fixture since the 4-2 win at Oldham Athletic in March 2021.

During what was a rampant opening 13 minutes, it was hard to believe that this was the same group of players that had barely laid a glove on Peterborough United, Northampton Town and Lincoln City in recent weeks.

Elias Kachunga - operating in the number 10 position - and Sullay Kaikai from wide on the right were central figures as Cambridge cut through their opposition’s backline almost at will.

The deadlock was broken in the eighth minute by Danny Andrew, who fired in a low free kick from 22 yards out after Kachunga had been fouled. It was the left-back’s first goal for United since signing from the visitors in the summer.

One became two in the 12th minute and on this occasion Kachunga turned scorer after a move of genuine quality. The ball started wide on the left with James Brophy, who fed it through centrally to Fejiri Okenabirhie and then on to Liam Bennett. He found Kaikai on the right hand side of the box and while his effort cannoned against the far post, an off-balance Kachunga was on hand to turn in the rebound from close range.

And within 60 seconds Cambridge had their third goal of the tie when Kaikai’s slide rule pass sent Okenabirhie clear and he swept home for the ninth time in all competitions this term.

That proved to be Okenabirhie’s final significant involvement as he was forced off with an injury and it was his replacement - Gassan Ahadme - that passed up a golden opportunity to put the hosts four goals clear in the 29th minute.

Having been upended inside the box by Bosul Lawal, it appeared that Kaikai was keen to take the resultant spot kick. However, after some deliberation he handed the ball to Ahadme, only for the Ipswich Town loanee to badly under-hit his attempted Panenka and while Fleetwood goalkeeper Stephen McMallan dived to his right, he had enough time to adjust and keep the ball out.

Andrew went close with another free kick soon after, while up the other end ex-Peterborough frontman Jack Marriott lifted the ball over the top of the Newmarket Road End and Brendan Wiredu prodded wide when it looked easier to score.

The second half was largely a non-event and in many ways it was a scenario that suited Cambridge down to the ground.

Jack Stevens’ goal was rarely under threat as he recorded a seventh clean sheet of the campaign and Cambridge still had their moments – notably when Brophy rattled the crossbar from the edge of the box with 58 minutes on the clock.

The fourth and final goal came seven minutes from time as Ahadme went some way to atoning for his penalty horror show with a first-time finish from Paul Digby’s right-wing cross.

The club can now await tomorrow’s draw with hopes of being paired alongside one of the Premier League’s big boys, but perhaps even more importantly is the fact that the mood has been lifted after a tough week.

Cambridge United: Stevens, L Bennett, Morrison, Okedina, Andrew (Haunstrup 80’), Digby, Thomas, Kaikai (Lankester 73’), Brophy (McConnell 80’), Kachunga (Janneh 73’), Okenabirhie (Ahadme 22’)

Fleetwood Town: McMullan, Heneghan, Lawal (Montgomery 57’), Sarpong-Wiredu, Johnston (Rooney 57’), Patterson, Mayor, Vela, Broom (Dolan 32’), Marriott, Stockley (Tshimanga 69’)