Stevenage secured victory at the Abbey Stadium this afternoon, beating rivals Cambridge United 1-0 courtesy of a second-half Luke Norris goal...
Manager Alex Revell made two changes to the side that lost against Cheltenham United on Tuesday, with Luther James-Wildin and Jack Aitchison returning to the starting eleven in place of Remeao Hutton and Joe Martin who dropped to the bench.
Boro started on the front foot, with Ben Coker getting forward and finding space on the left before delivering a cross which was dealt with by Cambridge defender Greg Taylor.
Cambridge than had a chance of their own minutes later, as Wes Hoolahan evaded challenges from Luther James-Wildin and Terence Vancooten before delivering a low cross which was dealt with by the alert Luke Prosser.
Hiram Boateng was the architect for the U’s this time, as the midfielder slipped past Jack Smith out wide before teeing up Luke Hannant in the box, who blazed his effort over the bar.
Jack Aitchison came close on 11 minutes, persistently charging down the Cambridge defence with his eventual tackle whistling just wide of the Cambridge goal, inches away from finding the bottom right corner.
Boateng nearly grabbed the opening goal of the game, after a neat Cambridge passing move resulted in Boateng taking a pop shot from distance, which Jamie Cumming done well to save with an outstretched arm.
Hoolahan was given the freedom of the pitch on 20 minutes, galloping forward without any Boro pressure before shooting straight at Cumming who saved comfortably.
Boro were the team that began to apply all the pressure, as Elliott List found space out wide, slaloming past two Cambridge defenders before going down in the box, but referee Ross Joyce waved Boro penalty appeals away.
Jack Smith almost broke the deadlock, after nice Stevenage play ended in Smith finding space inside the box, but the youngster was denied by a good stop from Callum Burton.
Luke Norris was the next Boro player to take aim at goal on 35 minutes, positioned centrally but the striker scuffed his effort which rolled way wide of the Cambridge goal.
The second half commenced and Cambridge took the initiative, with Declan Drysdale rising highest from a corner, but his header was blocked in the nick of time by Norris who eventually won a free kick inside the Stevenage box.
Smith had Boro’s first shot on target of the second-half, hitting an angled half-volley which Burton done well to catch.
Luke Norris scored the game’s only goal, as a dangerous corner from Coker found List, who hit the crossbar from point blank range before Norris’ initial shot was clawed away off the line Burton, with Norris heading in the rebound.
List could’ve doubled Boro’s lead on 73 minutes, latching onto a long ball and shooting into the chest of a brave Burton who rushed off his line to deal with the threat.
Vancooten managed the Cambridge attack excellently throughout the game, digging deep in the final stages to deny the Cambridge bombardment.
Boro handled late Cambridge pressure to secure a league double over Cambridge, denying the U’s mathematical promotion to League One.