United 1-0 Shrewsbury: 27th January 2026
Is finding a way all that matters? Maybe.
We’d seen that game at the Abbey a number of times before. A Tuesday night under the lights, a bright start descending into a really tough watch. It feels like they’ve almost all ended in 1-0 defeats.
As the second half of this particular Tuesday night dragged on, the fixture against Shrewsbury had deteriorated i
nto a terrible spectacle, United neither replicating the thrilling second half they’d produced against Tranmere three days prior nor hitting anything like the level that has seen them fly up the League Two table in recent weeks.
At that point in proceedings any of the three results remained possible. If the U’s conspired to lose they’d have matched the historic precedent they’d managed in seasons past, if they grabbed a winner then perhaps it would be proof that this is a promotion year and they could find a way even when not playing well.
They found a way. This was not a performance that will act as confirmation that Cambridge United are destined for the top three. Anyone making their first appearance at the Abbey for a few months would be justified in asking what all the excitement’s about given the error-strewn display. But the result tells a different story. Every disappointing aspect of the night could be suffixed with “but they found a way”.
