BRAINTREE TOWN 0 CAMBRIDGE UNITED 3

Pre-season friendly

Goals at both ends of the game gave Cambridge United a 3-0 win as they provided the latest opposition of Braintree Town’s pre-season campaign.

The U’s looked sharp and provided a strong test for the Iron, but a strike in the first ten minutes and two late goals gave the scoreline a comfortable look for the Football League side.

The game saw a strong start from Cambridge, with the U’s looking lively and full of running.

By moving the ball swiftly, they had Braintree on the back foot and almost took the lead on three minutes when a ball through the middle allowed former Colchester United striker Jabo Ibehre to break clear but Nathan McDonald got down well to save.

Having weathered the storm, Braintree began to press themselves, but they were caught out by some powerful play by the visitors on seven minutes.

Some excellent work by Emmanuel Osadebe – the brother of former Witham Town striker Chinedu Osadebe - down the Braintree left saw him slide a teasing cross into the middle of the home box to where Ibhere had the simple task of slotting the ball home for a deserved opener.

The visitors looked sharp all over the pitch and the home defenders had to be on their toes to make sure they didn’t fall further behind.

Osadabe did get clear from a long ball over the top of the Iron back line and had the ball in the back of the net, but he was denied by a raised off-side flag.

There was also a chance as Jevani Brown fired in a shot that stung Nathan McDonald’s hands, but the Iron keeper held on to it well.

Having seen off the threats, Braintree got stronger as the half progressed.

Their work rate increased and there were chances for Josh Hill and Christie Pattison, but neither could unduly trouble U’s keeper Dimitar Mitov.

It was a better finish to the opening 45 minutes from the Iron, but they were unable to get on level terms and it finished with the U’s holding on to their slender advantage.

Braintree – with one eye on their scheduled trip to Dereham the next day – made a number of changes at the interval and it was Cambridge, who had made just one change, who started the stronger after the restart.

They were unable to make their dominance count again, though, with shots off target and replacement Iron keeper Ashlee Jones tipping a header over the bar from a corner.

In a repeat of the first half, Braintree improved as the half went on and they were unlucky not to draw level after some superb work down the left by Aaron Jones.

He ghosted past a couple of challenges before teeing the ball up in the middle, but Cambridge defenders were on hand to get blocks in to deny an equaliser.

As the game entered the final stages, though, the visitors did find the target to stretch their lead.

On 84 minutes, a good cross from the right by Matthew Foy was met with a strong shot by Adebayo Azeez that Jones did brilliantly to keep out with a wonderful save from close range, but Tom Knowles was on hand to follow up and fire the ball high into the net.

Having been denied by Jones’ excellent save, though, Azeez wasn’t to be kept out two minutes later when he latched on to a square ball by Knowles and fired in from close range.

It gave the scoreline a more emphatic look for the U’s and perhaps reflected the dominance they had at times over the 90 minutes, but it was a good run-out for the Iron against another Football League opponent.

Braintree Town (starting line-up): Nathan McDonald, Ben Wyatt, Michael Clark, Josh Hill, Jon Muleba, Marcel Barrington, Luke Allen, Joe Ellul, Christie Pattison, Lyle Della-Verde, Mohamed Bettamer.

Cambridge United (starting line-up): Dimitar Mitov, Louis John, Sam Squire, Harry Darling, Jordan Norville-Williams, Paul Lewis, Gary Deegan, Emmanuel Osadebe, Jevani Brown, Harrison Dunk, Jabo Ibehre.