NOLAN RAGES AT REF AS BROPHY CORNER FLIES IN TO SNATCH POINT

By Matt Ramsey

CAMBRIDGE U 1

Brophy 52

CAMBRIDGE: Bishop 6, Malone 6 (Bennett 46, 6), Watts 7, Morrison 7, Gibbons, Stevenson 6, Digby 7, Brophy 7, Stokes (Njoku Guinness-Walker 7, Pinnock 7 (Odimayo 80, 6), Taylor 6, Perry 7

NORTHAMPTON 1

Hoskins 26

NORTHAMPTON: Burge 6, McGowan 7 (Eyoma, 86), Dyche 6, 90), Kachunga 6, Ballard 6 (Loft 46, 6) (Hondermarck, 90), Hoskins 8, Roberts 7, Eaves 7 (Magloire 80, Subs not used: Barton, Hoddle, Okedina, Stevens. 6), McGeehan 6. Subs not used: Dadge, Mbete, Tzanev. Att: 7,252 Rating: ★★★★★ Ref: Matthew Russell 7/10

NORTHAMPTON boss Kevin Nolan was furious with the officials after this draw at Cambridge.

It had looked set to be a successful day for his side after they led through Sam Hoskins, only to be pegged back when James Brophy scored direct from a corner.

“I’m disappointed in the referee,” said Nolan. “Ryan Loft elbowed Mitch (Pinnock). It’s a red card and he missed it.

“To make matters worse, there’s two lads on our goalkeeper pulling him for their equaliser. The ref ’s got to know something’s gone wrong.”

After an uneventful start, the visitors’ opening goal was simple. Cambridge failed to deal with Pinnock’s long throw and the ball fell to Hoskins to fire home.

Another long throw led to Tyler Roberts heading over, and he also blazed wide after Cameron McGeehan’s pass.

Two minutes before half-time, McGeehan led a Northampton break before again finding Roberts, only for him to fire wastefully into the side netting.

Having threatened little in the first-half, Cambridge drew level in wind-assisted circumstances after 52 minutes when James Brophy’s corner from the right deceived keeper Lee Burge and went straight in at his near post.

Ben Stevenson fired well wide after a James Gibbons long throw, before Max Dyche had the chance to restore Northampton’s lead 17 minutes from the end, but nodded Pinnock’s free-kick just wide.

Cambridge boss Neil Harris spoke highly of his side’s response after the interval, following a poor or first-half.

“I’ve praised us for some of our halves of football; our first halves have been very good. We’ve not been behind in halves of football, but today we deserved to be. Today we were really poor first

-half,” he said. “It wasn’t what I want us to be, an aggressive Cambridge United, a Neil Harris team that can play a little bit but will also fight.

“I’ll end the negatives there; the second-half was much more like it.

It wasn’t pretty at times, but it was effective.”

On the equaliser Harris admitted: “It’s a bizarre goal but sometimes you’ve got to put the ball on the money to give it an opportunity for the wind to carry it in the net.”

The draw moves Northampton seven points clear of the bottom four, but leaves the U’s 11 points adrift of safety.