Cambridge City 0 Walsall Wood 3 - Report

Alex Bradley’s quickfire double at the end of the first half followed by Jai Verma’s well-taken strike midway through the second secured a precious three points at Cambridge City, despite Tyreace Brown seeing red for a second bookable tackle shortly after the break.

And it was the zero at the other end that really pleased Harris.

“We were excellent,” beamed Harris.

“We had to change shape a little bit because Joey Butlin got injured in the week but the lads worked their socks off and played them off the park.

“On top of that, we were brilliant off the ball too. The main thing I wanted from the boys this week was a clean sheet and you could tell they were up for the challenge in the way that they worked off the ball and that set the tone for what we did when we had it.

“We dealt with a lot of crosses and corners and the determination shone through.”

Wood might have led early on with Kevin Monteiro’s goal from a corner controversially ruled out for an alleged foul on keeper Joe Welch.

Welch then produced a fine save to keep out Sam Unitt’s blast on the rebound but was powerless to prevent Bradley’s volley that cannoned in off the far post five minutes before half-time.

Unitt then raced in behind and cut back for Bradley to sweep home his second in as many minutes and the game was up when Owen Watkins kept the ball in play to cut back for Jai Verma to finish across goal in the 69th minute.

While Bradley took the man-of-the-match plaudits, veteran defender Asa Charlton, who signed in the build-up to the game, also stood out.

“Asa is a non-league legend,” said Harris.

“He has been around for years, has that experience we need and is a good talker. With him being left-footed, he gives us a nice balance in the backline as well.”