Stevenage moved themselves back into the play-off places with back-to-back wins against near neighbours.

After Saturday's 1-0 success against Wycombe Wanderers. Boro repeated the score to see off Cambridge United at the Lamex.

The first game was postponed in December due to a floodlight failure while this rearranged match was delayed for 15 minutes to allow the big crowd inside.

You may have felt the game was cursed at that point but Jordan Roberts' first-half goal meant there would be a silver lining for Stevenage.

They are now sixth with 59 points from 34 games.

There were three changes from the win over Wycombe at the weekend.

Luther Wildin and Jamie Reid were back in the starting XI after returning to training while Finley Burns was also recalled.

Dan Sweeney, Alex MacDonald and Nick Freeman were the three to make way, all getting a place on the bench.

The delay to the start of the game and the realisation that there was the biggest crowd of the season heading into the ground was enough to throw the importance into sharp focus.

A must-win game for bragging rights if nothing else also became a must perform.

And the first half was a strange old affair because the performance was there in parts but you also felt that Boro had left a good 20 per cent out on the field.

From the word go though, it was clear there would be chances.

Boro passed it around really well and had a glorious chance to open the scoring on 10 minutes when Reid went through.

He showed signs that his lean spell has not left him and after deciding not to look for the pass, he went for a shot.

That was too close to Jack Stevens and he pushed it away.

Jake Forster-Caskey then had a glorious opportunity following superb work by Wildin to get round the outside of Danny Andrew and get the cross in.

The midfielder was unmarked six yards out and put his header down to the floor, again though too close to the keeper.

Reid then wriggled in from the left but his pass-cum-shot hit Roberts and was cleared.

It was always more likely that Boro would get the first goal and it duly arrived with 10 minutes remaining, although Cambridge will curse themselves for not dealing with it.

Ball pinged out from the keeper and should have been cleared by Adam May.

He delayed on it though and Roberts stole it off him, turning and shooting left-footed from the edge of the area and finding the corner to the right of Stevens.

Louis Thompson couldn't get a header on target a few minutes later but Cambridge could have levelled with the last kick of the half.

Jack Lankester made a hash of the shot though and it bounced through to Taye Ashby-Hammond.

Half-time saw small bouts of disturbance in the corner between the East Terrace and the South Stand, housing  the away fans.

Objects were thrown both ways and some of the very few minority seemed more focused on each other than the game from then on.

They missed Stevenage almost double their lead in the first 60 seconds of the second period, Stevens fumbling the ball behind him but grabbing it as it rolled towards the line.

Kane Hemmings then had a sight of goal from the edge of the area but sliced across it and it went wide.

But as with Saturday, the longer the game went on and the longer it stayed at 1-0, the more Stevenage seemed to retreat backwards and take less risks.

It allowed Cambridge to fashion a few chances of their own, and a triple substitution by Barry Corr gave them fresh impetus.

Lankester headed over when totally unmarked after a good cross from Liam Bennett and Danny Andrew fired over while equally clear of markers.

Ashby-Hammond was also beaten to one ball through as well but Terence Vancooten swept round the back to clear.

Boro still created one chance that needed an excellent stop by Stevens to push a Carl Piergianni header away one handed.

You felt there was opportunities for Boro on the break but at the same time there was the overriding fear of a Cambridge equaliser looming just around the corner.

Neither came but the three points did arrive at Stevenage's door.

Match details

Stevenage: Ashby-Hammond, Wildin, Butler, Piergianni, Forster-Caskey (Guinness-Walker 80), Roberts (White 88), Vancooten, Burns, Reid (Oliver 88), L.Thompson, Hemmings (Freeman 80).

Sub (not used): MacGillivray, Sweeney, MacDonald.

Goals: Roberts 35

Booked: Forster-Caskey 45

 

Cambridge United: Stevens, Andrew, Digby, Morrison, R.Bennett, Lankester, Kaikai (Kachunga 64), May (Brophy 64), Cousins, Gibbons (L.Bennett 64), Bonne.

Subs (not used): Mannion, Rossi, Year, Njoku.

Goals: 

Booked: Cousins 43

 

HT: Stevenage 1 Cambridge United 0

Added time: 7

Referee: Alex Chilowicz (USA)

Attendance: 6,553 (including 1,384 from Cambridge)