Cambridge United 4-4 Blackpool: U’s mount miraculous second-half comeback to claim first Sky Bet League One point of the season

It was Sir Alex Ferguson – speaking after Manchester United’s victory in the Champions League final of 1999 – that coined the phrase: ‘Football, bloody hell’. Those in the attendance at the Cledara Abbey Stadium this afternoon will have had very similar sentiments after Cambridge United played out a 4-4 draw at home against Blackpool.

When Dominic Ballard put the visiting Tangerines 4-1 up in the 53rd minute, it looked a matter of how many more the visitors were going to score.

United had been at sixes and sevens defensively up until that point and aside from Shayne Lavery’s goal – which had levelled the game up at 1-1 – they had not offered too much offensively either.

But Danny Andrew’s low free kick with a little more than half an hour remaining restored a little bit of hope and United certainly clung to it.

Blackpool’s opener came in the fifth minute when James Husband was left all alone at the back post to head home Lee Evans’ left-wing corner. The same two players combined in the 38th minute with a carbon copy goal to restore the away side’s advantage after Lavery had turned in James Brophy’s low cross in the 28th minute.

And within 60 seconds more lacklustre play saw Kyle Joseph scamper clear of the U’s defence and finish with aplomb to give Blackpool more daylight heading into the break.

It appeared that it was game over when another big gap appeared in the home rearguard and Ballard strode through to fire in unopposed, but then came one of the least predictable comebacks you are ever likely to see.

After Andrew’s well struck free-kick came a 72nd-minute first senior goal for Brandon Njoku, who swept the ball underneath Richard O’Donnell. It was the young striker’s first touch of the ball after coming on only seconds before as a substitute – and all of a sudden it was Blackpool’s turn to look all at sea.

They surrendered just three minutes later as Liam Bennett’s driven cross was parried by O’Donnell and when the ball eventually broke for Lavery, he was at home to sweep the ball in.

And it was United that had the best chance to snatch all three points in stoppage time when Njoku’s neat flick was perfect for debutant Josh Stokes, but the Bristol City loanee drove his shot from the edge of the box straight at O’Donnell.