Neil Harris hails Cambridge’s second-half turnaround

Cambridge manager Neil Harris praised his side for turning the game around in the second half as they hit back to beat Reading 2-1 at the Cledara Abbey Stadium.

Defenders Liam Bennett and Kell Watts both scored second-half headers after the hosts had fallen behind to Jack Marriott’s strike.

It means newly-promoted Cambridge are up to fourth in the standings, with three wins from their first six games.

Harris said: “We were too open in the first half, so we made changes at half-time because we needed to wrestle control back of the game.

“The changes helped us play forward quicker and for 25 minutes of the second half we were excellent.

“It wasn’t pure football, but we played the pitch and conditions really well. Getting a goal early in the second half gave us momentum, which was vital for the players and the fans.

“We’ve got a lot of young players in the squad, but we’re finding ways to win and building our points tally, which is helping us grow as a group and buying time for the players in the squad to grow.

“We’re going to have times this season where it will be tough for us, so results like today will be very important.”

Reading controlled the first half, with shots from Udoka Godwin-Malife and George Earthy blocked before Marriott put them in front in the 38th minute, swivelling to score his sixth goal of the season after Lewis Wing’s ball into the box caused chaos.

The game sprang into life after half-time and the home side were level in the 52nd minute when the diminutive Bennett scored with a looping header from Callum Perry’s cross.

Cambridge hit the front when a 62nd-minute corner was cleared to Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, who crossed for Watts to nod home.

Kyreece Lisbie went close again moments later, cutting in from the left and seeing his shot rattle a post.

Referee Ollie Yates waved away a late penalty shout for a tackle on Jacob Brown by Cathal Heffernan.

Reading manager Leam Richardson said: “The negatives for us are the result and the goals, but I thought for an away performance it was good and we had enough chances to win the game.

“We’ve hit the post and had a blatant penalty turned down – Brown takes a touch and is about to pass the ball into the net and he’s pulled down. For me it should’ve been a penalty and a sending-off.

“But if we play like that in the majority of away games we’ll win more than they lose.

“Credit to Cambridge for defending their box and punishing us, but we created a lot of chances, so we can take loads of positives despite the negative result. We were unfortunate to lose, but we’ll take it on the chin and move on.”