Derry not giving up on bid for play-offs
BEN Williamson's double brought ten-man Yeovil's winning run to an end and fuelled Cambridge's hopes of a late run into the League Two play-offs.
Two first-half goals from Williamson and a late strike from Jimmy Spencer maintained the home side’s pursuit of promotion in Shaun Derry’s first season as manager.
The result also halted the Glovers’ four-game winning streak as they saw midfielder Liam Walsh sent off after just ten minutes for striking out at James Dunne.
Cambridge are five points outside the play-offs with nine games left to play and face a big Easter weekend with matches against promotion hopefuls Bristol Rovers and Oxford United.
Derry said: “To still be in it with nine games to go is a fantastic accolade for everyone at the club and we’re looking forward to the Easter games.
“It's been an almighty effort to get to where we are and I still stress that we are at a transitional stage for this football club.
“But it’s great to have that transition when you are in and around the top ten.We are still in the mix.
“I want to be playing for something at the end of the season, I don’t want it to peter out and have nothing riding on the games.
“Yeovil have been on a good run under Darren Way and have got a good belief so I knew they would make it hard for us and we had to be clinical. We’ve won both halves, so I'm very pleased.”
Yeovil remain 11 points above the relegation zone despite defeat but boss Darren Way admitted they fell short of their recent standards.
He said:“The sending off didn’t help us but we just couldn’t get going here from start to finish and didn't deserve anything.
“These things happen sometimes. It’s never nice losing but it does bring you back down to earth and we’ve still got a lot of hard work to do.
“We have been defending very well but conceded poor goals here and as a manager you have to accept you won't win every game.
“The performance disappointed me as did the manner in which we lost the game. We have to get back on track now to make sure we keep this club in the Football League.”
Cambridge went ahead on four minutes when Harrison Dunk’s cross from the left was flicked on by Josh Coulson and tapped in from close range by Williamson.
Walsh then saw red for striking Dunne and on the stroke of half-time United made it 2-0 as Williamson again slotted.
Sub Spencer made the game safe with three minutes left, with Dunk again the creator.