Brown set to fill the void left by Berry
CAMBRIDGE United boss Shaun Derry was proud of the way his side responded to the loss of star man Luke Berry as they played out a goalless draw with Morecambe.
Berry, United’s top scorer last season, was sold to Luton on Friday for an undisclosed fee. But despite being without their star man United put in an excellent performance against a dogged Shrimps side, coming close to making the breakthrough on a number of occasions.
Derry was particularly pleased with the debut of forward Jevani Brown, who impressed in the number 10 role.
“We’re disappointed not to get the three points because we felt the performance we put in warranted it,” Derry said.
“It’s been a tough week with the Luke Berry situation, but those clouds have been hovering above us for a while, and now those clouds are gone we can hopefully see the light and move the club forward.
“Jevani Brown’s a bright player, he finds fantastic spaces on the pitch and always looks to play positively. I thought he was the outstanding attacking on the pitch today and the catalyst for everything good we did.”
Brown joined the U’s from non-league St Neots in the summer, and looked at home on his Football League debut, displayed a deft touch and almost opening the scoring in the tenth minute, seeing a powerful shot saved by Barry Roche.
Ade Azeez spurned three good chances for the dominant U’s, who were almost made to pay when Garry Thompson shot over for the Shrimps from ten yards.
Cambridge could have won it at the death, but Brad Halliday’s clipped cross bounced away off the bar. Morecambe manager Jim Bentley said: “Cambridge are a strong side and this is a tough place to come, so it’s a good point for us.
“You know you’re going to be up against it coming here, they’re a real handful with a powerful forward line and good options on the bench. When you come to places like this it’s easy to get steamrollered, but we stood up to it well.
“They probably shaded it, and created more chances, but we deserved our point for the endeavour that we showed, and the bodieson-the-line defending. We had one really good chance with Garry Thompson, and we’ve just got to tidy up in that final third. We’re looking to bring someone in to improve us in that area before the transfer window closes.”