A first half goal by Courtney Duffus inflicted a painful 1-0 defeat on the U’s against Yeovil Town, as Cambridge United’s poor run of form away from the Abbey continued in Sky Bet League Two.
The U’s who were impacted by a series of injuries across the squad, started with five changes as Harry Darling, George Maris, David Amoo Reggie Lambe and Alex Jones were selected in a 4-4-2 by Colin Calderwood.
United began the game the brighter of the two sides, Alex Jones sliding a neat pass into the path of Ibehre to open up the first sight at goal which the striker could not take advantage of and George Taft headed a George Maris corner wide of the mark on 13 minutes.
However the U’s promising opening petered out and it was the Glovers who opened the scoring midway through the first period. Courtney Duffus tapped into an empty United net at the back post from close range after Dimitar Mitov had initially saved a low drilled attempt by Alex Dobre.
The U’s escaped a quick fire double from Yeovil moments later when space opened up for Rhys Browne to pick a pass into Alex Fisher 12 yards from the United goal, but the striker spurned the chance side-footing wide.
United’s best chance fell moments before the break when Jones harried well to pinch possession high up field, and Amoo cut inside into a shooting position before his laced attempt from 18 yards rose fractions over the bar with Baxter seemingly beaten.
Mitov pulled off a smart stop three minutes into the second half, throwing himself to his left in order to get both hands to a firm strike by substitute Tristan Abrahams.
George Maris’ cross on 53 minutes caused the Glovers problems and zipped it’s way through to Ibehre and the back post, where the striker saw his shot deflected onto the stanchion. His strike partner Jones then missed a guilt-edged opportunity to net his first for the U’s when the Bradford loanne was picked out totally unmarked at the back post by Amoo but rolled the ball wide.
Referee Graham Salisbury waved away a strong penalty claim for the U’s when Ibehre looked to have got to a loose ball first inside the Glovers area before being clattered by Daniel Ojo.
And it proved to be a game out of the U’s reach, with Calderwood’s men dominating possession in the final quarter of the game but unable to break down a dogged Yeovil defence.
Yeovil Town: Baxter, Gafaiti, Mugabi, Browne, Worthington, Fisher, Duffus (Gray, 76 mins), Arquin (Abrahams, 8 mins), Dobre, Ojo (Dickinson, 73 mins), Santos
Bookings: Fisher, Baxter
Cambridge United: Mitov, John (Brown, 63 mins), Taft, Darling, Taylor, Amoo, Deegan, Maris, Lambe, Jones (Hepburn-Murphy, 62 mins), Ibehre
Bookings:
Attendance: 2,596 (222)