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| Cambridge United 2 v 1 Swansea City |
Report courtesy of Wales on Sunday
A storming start by the Swans rocked unbeaten Cambridge, but a feeble finish in which they allowed the game to drift saw them throw away the points.
Cambridge were full of confidence after outplaying First Division Watford in mid-week in the Worthington Cup, but they were sliced open as the Swans ripped through their defence three times in the opening 10 minutes.
Two of those attacks produced near misses with Julian Alsop heading against the crossbar in the third minute, then forcing a great save from goalkeeper Arjan Van Heusden in the ninth.
But between those strikes there was no mistake from Republic of Ireland youth international Ryan Casey who raced on to a Steve Watkin pass to fire his team in front in the sixth minute.
But John Hollins' team were unable to follow up their excellent start, allowing Cambridge to fight their way back into the match.
It looked as though they would still gain a valuable away point, but poor defending at a set piece eight minutes from time gave Martin Butler his second goal of the game and the winner.
Hollins commented: "It was a very bright start and we played some excellent football which should have brought us more than the one goal, but we were a bit cavalier at times and we didn't mark tight enough at the set pieces.
"I have mixed feelings. Generally I was happy with the play, but I am very disappointed, especially for the fans who gave us such great support, that we handed it all to Cambridge at the end.
"Cambridge are strong and a resilient side, but we should have got something out of this game." His team were handicapped by the absence of last season's top scorer Tony Bird, suspended after being sent off against Cambridge at the end of last season for throwing mud at the referee, and there were three more bookings in this game for Watkin, Bound and Thomas.
Said Hollins, "We cannot keep on learning from our mistakes because it would prove too costly, this is one thing I really want us to crack down on.
"But I think we showed enough to give us confidence when we go to Norwich in the cup on Tuesday. We can play away from home, but we have to be a bit tighter."
His side panicked in defence late in the first half as Cambridge at last created an attack or two and the Swans were lucky to see Butler hit the post and their own defender Michael Howard send a misplaced header against the crossbar as he attempted to clear.
There was no such action in the second half as the teams wilted in the hot afternoon sun and the draw looked inevitable until Cambridge conjured a goal out of nothing.
Said Cambridge boss Roy McFarland, "It looked like a draw, but John Taylor told me he would get us the winner if I sent him on as substitute and that's what virtually happened, he set up the goal for Martin by flicking on a free kick."
Hollins sent on Stuart Roberts mid-way through the second half but Swansea were unable to raise their game to put any pressure on Cambridge once the home side grabbed the lead.
CAMBRIDGE UTD (1) 2 SWANSEA (1) 1 Cambridge Utd: Van Heusden, Chenery, Ashbee, Duncan, Joseph, Campbell, Wanless, Benjamin, Butler, Kyd (Taylor 69), Russell. Unused: Mustoe, Preece. Booked: Duncan, Kyd. Goals: Butler 32, 82. Swansea: Freestone, Price, Howard, Cusack, Smith, Bound, Casey (Roberts 66), Thomas, Alsop, Watkin, Coates. Unused: Jones, Jenkins. Booked: Bound, Thomas, Watkin. Goals: Casey 6.