Paul Lewis grabbed a well-deserved late equaliser for Cambridge United as the U’s secured their first point against Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park since 2001 with a 1-1 draw.
United produced another performance filled with desire but trailed following Adebayo Akinfenwa’s opening goal during first half stoppage time, before Lewis repeated the feat in the second half.
Jabo Ibehre and George Mars were the only changes to United’s starting eleven from the draw with Luton Town a week earlier.
A series of injury stoppages throughout the first 30 minutes of the game, which included George Maris’ early departure having taken a stinging volley to the face, meant the fixture failed to get going as a contest at all during the first half.
The first opening saw Nathan Tyson hare round George Taft from Akinfenwa’s stab up field, however the former Nottingham Forest and Derby striker drove a shot well wide of David Forde’s target on the half hour mark.
United’s first opening saw Uche Ikpeazu burst past Tafari Moore and play a pass into the path of Gary Deegan who forced Scott Brown into his first save, before Liam O'Neil caught the loose ball sweetly on the half volley which just rose over the bar on 37 minutes.
Just as it seemed destined the sides would go in level, Akinfenwa held off a number of U’s defenders to enable him the chance to flick on goalkeeper Brown’s long free kick up field, to place the ball out of the reach of David Forde who had been kept very quiet prior to the goal.
United shot out the blocks in the second half and would have levelled through Paul Lewis were it not for a superb piece of defending from Dominic Gape to throw himself in front of the U’s midfielder’s close range header.
Forde pulled off an excellent stop to tip over Dan Scarr’s far post header ten minutes later, before the U’s rode their luck a little when Luke O’Nien’s cross skewed off the left boot of George Taft and hit the woodwork after the hour mark.
If the first half was a stop-start affair, the second was anything but as Wycombe pushed forward looking to secure a second and United gave as good as they got as Joe Dunne’s men searched for a leveller.
Forde produced another stunner of a save when he blocked Akinfenwa’s close range effort to deny the hulking striker a second goal on 65 minutes, and at the other end substitute Dave Amoo crossed towards the far post which was headed across the face of goal by Dan Scarr and could not be tapped over by the stretching Liam O’Neil.
George Taft was the next player to gain an opening at goal when a U’s corner fell into his path 15 minutes from time, and despite catching the ball sweetly on the volley it bounced away from goal.
However, the U’s endeavour finally off deep into six minutes of stoppage time when Uche Ikpeazu barrelled through to beat Adam El-Abd to a loose ball before Paul Lewis calmly knocked the ball out of his feet to smash in an equaliser to send the travelling support into raptures.
Wycombe Wanderers: Brown, Moore, Jacobson (McGinley, 60 mins), Scarr, El-Abd, Gape, O’Nien, Bloomfield (Kashket, 90 mins), Cowan-Hall (Freeman, 84 mins), Akinfenwa, Tyson
Cambridge United: Forde, Halliday, Taft, Taylor, Dunk, Deegan, Maris (Lewis, 19 mins), O’Neil (Brown, 82 mins), Waters (Amoo, 68 mins, Ikpeazu, Ibehre