Mark Bonner hails Cambridge depth as substitutes seal win over Bristol Rovers

Posted Sunday, August 20, 2023 by PA

Mark Bonner hailed the quality of his new-look Cambridge squad after substitutes Fejiri Okenabirhie and Sullay Kaikai scored late to secure a 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers and send the Us top of League One.

Okenabirhie netted his first league goal for the club with a curling finish in the 78th minute before summer signing Kaikai scored in stoppage time to seal a third win in four and consign Rovers to a first league defeat of the season.

After a summer of change at the Abbey Stadium, with 10 players leaving the club and six arriving, Bonner is happy with the options at his disposal.

“I think with the quality of the players we have we’re in a good position, and the impact Fejiri and Sullay had when they came on was outstanding,” he said.

“You need those attacking options off the bench. Fejiri is in a good place at the moment and that was a brilliant finish, but there were good performances all over the pitch.

“From start to finish the players did everything we asked, they carried out the game plan and we looked a really good team.

“We were patient, we had some good attacking situations and our defensive structure was strong. That’s three clean sheets in four games, which we’re really pleased with.”

It was Cambridge’s 2,000th game in the Football League, and they were indebted to goalkeeper Jack Stevens for a crucial save from Aaron Collins in the second half when the scores were level.

Collins raced clear on goal in the 68th minute after a long ball forward from Tristan Crama, but Stevens stood up well to block his shot.

Prior to that there had been little by way of goalmouth incident, but Okenabirhie made the breakthrough in the 78th minute with a fine finish after good work from Kaikai and Jack Lankester.

Then in the 96th minute, with Rovers on the attack in search of an equaliser, Cambridge broke and George Thomas and Okenabirhie combined to leave Kaikai with a simple finish.

Bristol Rovers assistant manager Andy Mangan said: “Credit goes to Cambridge because they came with a game plan and it has worked.

“We didn’t take our chances and we need to be better in all departments. We had opportunities but we never really got going properly today. We’ve got to move the ball quicker and try and pull them apart, and these are areas we need to develop.

“We’ve got a strong squad, probably the strongest Bristol Rovers has ever had, and with that comes pressure. Today we’re frustrated because we didn’t put enough pressure on Cambridge, but we need to stick together – we’re a new group and today we’ve seen there are things we need to improve on.”