Mark Bonner hopes win at Port Vale gives Cambridge momentum in survival fight

Posted Sunday, April 02, 2023 by PA

Cambridge manager Mark Bonner hopes his side can pick up some much-needed momentum after earning three valuable points in their battle against relegation from Sky Bet League One with a 2-0 victory at Port Vale.

Sam Smith and Lloyd Jones scored twice in four minutes early in the second half to end United’s six-match winless run and move them to within five points of safety with eight matches left to play.

The victory was only their second since Boxing Day, which was the last time they scored more than one goal in a single league game.

“We needed to win and we should take some confidence from winning a game we had to,” Bonner said.

“We’re going to have to do that again, of course, between now and the end of the season.

“So to get a positive result, get three points away from home – it hasn’t happened often enough – our supporters will hopefully have enjoyed that, because they haven’t seen too many of them, and we certainly will.

“But I thought our performance was excellent and that helped us towards our result but in the end.”

Next up for Cambridge is the visit of Fleetwood on Good Friday and Bonner is urging the fans to really get behind the team.

“We’ve been waiting for this (a win) for a while to see if it does give us the boost,” he said.

“What I hope is it takes away some anxiety when the supporters come to the stadium next week, because I think that will really help the boys.”

Cambridge looked the more threatening in a fairly uneventful first half, with curling efforts from Shilow Tracey and Jack Lankester narrowly missing the target.

Vale sprung into life in the 47th minute as Matty Taylor guided Tom Conlon’s pass into the path of Funso Ojo, whose shot from just inside the area was well saved by Will Mannion.

But they found themselves behind moments later, when Smith bundled the ball into the net after Aidan Stone had kept out Lankester’s close-range attempt.

Cambridge came close to doubling their advantage almost immediately, with shots from Smith and Lankester blocked inside the box.

They did not have to wait much longer for their second, though, as centre-back Jones glanced home a header from Conor McGrandles’ cross in the 52nd minute to settle the contest.

Port Vale manager Darrell Clarke was extremely critical of his team’s toothless performance as they dropped one place in the table to 17th.

The Valiants have only won three times since the turn of the year and are winless in four matches.

“Maybe quite a few of them (the players) have run the race because certainly second half of the season, since the new year, we’ve been going backwards,” Clarke said.

“Some of the performances have been OK, but we’ve been going backwards as a football club on the pitch.

“Maybe one or two have hit their levels and that’s the brutal reality of this game that we’re in.”