Cambridge United boss Neil Harris reacts to 1-1 draw with Northampton Town in League One

The old cliché ‘a game of two halves’ was very apt to describe Cambridge United’s 1-1 draw with Northampton Town this afternoon.

By boss Neil Harris’ own admission, the U’s were ‘really poor’ during the first half of the contest at the Cledara Abbey Stadium.

But while there was not necessarily too much more quality about the display during the second half, the intensity rose up several notches and the hosts were rewarded by James Brophy’s equaliser direct from a corner.

Harris said: “I’ve praised our seven first halves of football (since he returned to the club as head coach). Our first halves have been very good and we’ve not been behind, but today we deserved to be.

“We were really poor first half. It wasn’t what I want us to be in the sense of an aggressive Cambridge United and Neil Harris team. One that can play a little bit but also stand up to the fight.

“Northampton are very good at what they do. They’re very front foot, they run forward and they’re good at it.

“But then I’ll end the negatives there. The second half was much more like it. There wasn’t always a lot of quality but it was much more effective at times. My glass is half full because we’ve come back and got a point.”

In terms of team selection, striker Dan Nlundulu and winger Sullay Kaikai were both notable omissions from the squad.

Harris confirmed that neither was injured, but did not elaborate too much further.

He added: “It’s a bit of everything really. Dan came off the training pitch earlier in the week but there’s nothing wrong with him, he’s fine. We’ll see if he’s involved this week.

“And Sullay has just had a very unstable few weeks. Again, he withdrew himself from training yesterday.”