United and Cambridge ground out a 0-0 draw this evening, their second  share of the spoils this season.

United were forced into a change when left back Anthony Tonkin took a knock in training, meaning Kevin Sandwith earned a recall while Matt Green and namesake Franny formed a three man attack along with James Constable.

The first ten minutes were evenly matched with Mark Creighton making a couple of good block to thwart Cambridge attacks and Adam Chapman striking a twenty yard effort wide with the outside of his boot at the other end on ten minutes. Cambridge came close to the opener on 17 as Scott Neilson's deft flick tickled the outside of the post after a  corner wasn't cleared properly but Chapman's shot on 26 from thirty yards raised home hopes after a nice couple of one twos to tee him up.

Chapman was in inspired form in the first half and on 30 minutes it took a superb save from Simon Brown to keep out the midfielder's volley at the end of another fine move and a deep Franny Green cross from the right. Brown seemed to be in slow motion as he plunged to his left and pawed the ball away from danger high above his right shoulder. It was to be United's best effort of the match.

An offside flag stopped Green (M) in full flow after a superb defence splitting pass from Green (F) on 35 minutes, a hairline decision which could have gone either way, and only a last ditch tackle by Josh Coulson denied Matt Green another chance a moment later as he galloped on to a Dannie Bulman pass.

In between all that United had seen two shots end up further from goal than they started as Matt Green and Dannie Bulman shanked shots at peculiar angles, and that seemed to infect the Cambridge boots as they attacked the same end in the second half and had about six sliced efforts in ten seconds inside the box as United struggled to clear.

The corresponding game at the Abbey Stadium was memorable for one moment in particular when Danny Crow's thirty yard chip was superbly saved by Ryan Clarke and on 52 it looked as though the striker was to have his revenge as he chipped the ball over Clarke from the edge of the box but was denied once again as the ball bopped up off of the bar  and over the fence to safety.

The best bit of skill on show all night came on 64 as Sandwith clipped the ball forward and sub Sam Deering, with his first touch of the night, took the ball down and swivelled inside his man all in the same movement. Constable dragged his shot well wide when Deering squared to him, but it was a fine move and deserved better.

It's not all about sublime skills though and it took true courage on 68 for Franny Green to throw himself in front of a goal bound effort and preserve another clean sheet for the defence.

The trouble was that both defences were on top and chances had all but dried up by the time we got that far. Constable thrashed wide on 84 when well placed but only a couple of stern challenges by visiting defenders raised the temperature  before the supporters headed for home into the cold night air.

Report by Chris Williams

Att: 5,219

Away: 235

Fifty/50 winning number: 90658

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