Tuesday 13 January 2004 - Milton Road - kick off 7.45pm Dr Martens Premier Division

With Russell Milton out with a knee injury and Frankie Bennett unavailable, Jeffries was given the chance to repeat his previous heroics from the start and recent signing Scott Partridge was handed his debut up front with Jason Eaton. The game started at pace although both sides struggled to match this effort with any real quality. Jeffries fired a 10th minute shot high over the bar and eight minutes later Mark Bryant was called into action, pushing away Grieves’ low shot. The pitch, that had looked excellent before kick-off, was cutting up badly and this didn’t help either side but City were beginning to gain the upper hand. On 21 minutes Partridge showed a good touch to allow Jeffries to bear down on goal. He held off his marker well but his firmly hit shot was a nice height for keeper Davies and he turned it away for a corner. The Lilywhites were looking more like the away side as they appeared content to try to catch City on the break and one such attack ended with Miller shooting past Bryant’s left hand post. Another effort from Jeffries flew wide on the half hour mark. Cambridge responded with half-chances for Miller and Niven before the half ended with City wasting a great chance to break the deadlock. Gary Owers won possession in midfield and lifted the ball forward to Partridge. He easily cut inside Pluck and was suddenly faced with just Davies to beat. However, to the dismay of the small but noisy group of City fans he sent the ball flying over the bar.

The home side came out stronger in the second half and began to push City back from the start. Riddle sent one effort narrowly wide and on 52 minutes City almost gifted their hosts the lead. Bryant looked to have gathered Niven’s ball forward only for it to slip from his grasp. Grieves reached the loose ball first only for Adam Howarth to block his goalbound shot. Having spared Bryant’s blushes the keeper returned the favour soon after when he somehow cleared the defender’s dreadful back pass despite being within a couple of yards of him. With chances become increasingly rare for City, Darren Hawkins should have done better than try his luck from a narrow angle on 59 minutes after Owers neat pass had sent him clear. Partridge was then denied a run on goal from the halfway line by a foul by Langston, the centre-back lucky to escape with just a yellow card, but it was Cambridge who finished the game on top. Bryant denied Simpson on 68 minutes and then comfortably gathered Riddle’s shot 7 minutes later. City showed their commitment to hanging onto the point when Trought’s crunching tackle to halt Simpson forced him from the action. The game ended with Bryant producing his best stop of the match to turn Pope’s downward header around the post. Bizarrely the referee awarded a goal kick and City took full advantage of this break to run the clock down and, although the search for an away win continued, end the game satisfied with their evening’s efforts.