Three goals in six first-half minutes set Cambridge on the way to a dominant 4-0 win over Fleetwood as they booked a place in the third round of the FA Cup.

The U’s, with Barry Corr in caretaker charge following the sacking of manager Mark Bonner on Wednesday, never looked back after Danny Andrew opened the scoring in the seventh minute.

Andrew curled in a free kick from 22 yards, awarded after Elias Kachunga had been fouled by Bosun Lawal.

Four minutes later Kachunga was on the scoresheet himself, netting from close range after Sullay Kaikai’s shot had hit the post.

In the 13th minute, Kaikai set up Fejiri Okenabirhie who ran clear and finished confidently.

Brendan Wiredu put Fleetwood’s best chance wide from close range before the U’s missed a penalty in the 29th minute. Gassan Ahadme’s tame effort from the spot was easily saved by Stephen McMullan after a foul on the lively Kaikai by Lawal.

Ahadme made amends in the second half, converting Paul Digby’s 83rd-minute cross to complete the scoring

Cambridge manager Mark Bonner was relieved to see Liam Bennett narrowly avoid putting into his own net in extraordinary fashion in the closing stages of his side’s 0-0 Sky Bet League One draw at Wycombe.

It was almost a Halloween horror story for the defender in the 89th minute of what was largely a forgettable contest when his wayward slice 35 yards from his own goal somehow bounced over.

That late escape preserved a point for Cambridge, backing up their weekend victory over Carlisle, while it extended Wycombe’s winless run to four games.

Bonner said: “It was a real spooky moment, almost a horror show there at the end, which was always possible tonight.

“It’s a horrible moment and it would have been really unfair because it’s bounced so close to the line and then you have to clear your head really quickly and defend the corner coming in, but I thought we did that well.

“Ryan Bennett has made a brilliant block at the end, JK [Lack Lankester] has got out to block one, Sullay Kaikai has got out to block one and got fouled at the edge of the box.

“Everyone had to put the shift in to do that, so it was a horrible moment that nearly went for them, but over the balance of play a point is probably fair for both sides.

“We felt like we had a couple of good chances to take maximum points and that’s the ruthlessness we need to develop.”

Ryan Bennett produced a towering header for Cambridge, only to denied by the bar and post, while Wycombe’s Garath McCleary had an effort saved by goalkeeper Jack Stevens.

His opposite number, Max Stryjek, then made a brilliant stop to keep out Lankester before Liam Bennett was momentarily left with his heart in his mouth.

Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield said: “It’s slow motion, isn’t it, when the ball is travelling through the air at that point? Time stops and it’s all slow motion.

“I thought the goalkeeper was going to get his foot to it, ultimately he’s missed it and I don’t really know how it’s not gone in at that point.

“I think the way the boys have played and their effort over the last 10 days, in terms of the four games that have gone, we haven’t had loads of bodies to rotate and keep ourselves fresh.

“We had to change formation as well and I’m incredibly pleased with the application of the players, in terms of how they’re trying to go and retain their identity.

“I think because of the effort we’ve put in for the last four games, us winning the game would have been justified, but we have to be pleased with the clean sheet.”

Steve Evans felt that Stevenage were fully deserving of their 2-1 win at Cambridge.

Stevenage have won all three league games since promotion to League One, with their success at the Abbey Stadium ending their opponent’s own perfect start.

Jamie Reid’s fine effort from outside the box eight minutes from the end proved decisive, coming less than two minutes after Mark Bonner’s side had pulled level through Elias Kachunga’s first goal for the U’s.

“There’s no doubt, we should have had the game over in the first half. Rather than good chances we just don’t take advantage of getting in good areas,” said Evans, whose side had gone ahead in the first half through Jordan Roberts.

“In the second half Cambridge were much better at counter-attacking than we were in the final third, but if it had been anything other than an away victory tonight it would have been a travesty.

“We missed three of four good opportunities. Jamie Reid should put us in front earlier than he did, but it’s a great strike to get the winner.

“The credit to us is that they get the goal from a scuff, they don’t get another chance.

“That’s credit to us because this is a good Cambridge team. There’s no one sitting here saying they aren’t a good team, they’ll win lots of games.

“He is big goal Reidy, the boys have just been singing that to him in the dressing room.

“He’s an infectious character but they’re all infectious. We can’t ask these players to give us any more.”

Bonner felt there were encouraging signs in the performance his Cambridge team produced, despite their first defeat of the campaign.

“They’re very, very good at what they do, Stevenage, and they’ll win a lot of games because of it.

“For large parts of the game we defended the threat very well, in certain periods when we were chasing we got counter-attacked a little bit too easily in the second half.

“The timing of the second goal’s a real killer for us because we’ve just got ourselves back in the game.

“I think there’s loads to learn tonight, and loads to like from it as well. Some of the football at times was brilliant, really good.

“We had the best chance early on where the ball flashes across the goal, a couple of set plays that flash across.

“It was nearly moments I think in a lot of our attacking play, without creating as much clear-cut stuff as we’d have liked.

“Actually our goal came probably at a time where the game was fairly balanced and we probably didn’t see it coming.

“The quick one from them is a tough one to take. I think if tonight’s a draw it’s probably the right result.”

Cambridge manager Mark Bonner singled out the “outstanding” performance of Gassan Ahadme following their 2-0 victory over Fleetwood.

The U’s, who only avoided the drop on the final day last season, made it two wins from two with goals from new signing Ahadme and stalwart Paul Digby the difference.

“Gassan Ahadme has started brilliantly, two in two and his performances have been outstanding,” Bonner said.

“He’s showing people exactly why we wanted him here for a few years. Our test for him is to see how consistent he can be at that level.

“It will be a tough ask but he really does set the tempo for us.

“It was a brilliant performance from Paul Digby, he deserved the goal. He made really hard runs to catch up with attacks and to come back and defend.”

Despite the professional performance, The U’s boss is still not getting ahead of himself and continues to demand more from his players.

“We were a threat all afternoon, defended well when we had to and thought we might have actually done better in terms of our goal return.

“To go in ahead was great but we were probably a bit frustrated we didn’t go in further ahead.

“We defended well in the second half. We’ve been working on set plays a lot and they’re going to be big for us this year as long as we capitalise on them.

“We did and it put us in a good position with a half hour left to be in control of the game to some extent. So we put ourselves in a really strong position.”

On the other hand hosts Fleetwood rarely looked threatening, and manager Scott Brown admitted they needed to go back to what they do best in order to keep clean sheets.

Brown said: “Disappointed obviously with the result. I take full responsibility for that one, what we’ve worked on in pre-season didn’t come off so we need to get back to doing what we do best.

“It’s being that horrible team doing what we do best and keeping clean sheets, making us hard to play through.

“We were maybe a little bit open today and the game plan probably wasn’t followed through as well as we possibly could do.

“I think the first 13, 14 minutes we controlled the game well and then we started to mix and match.

“Listen as I say, I’ve got to take this one on the head. The lads have given us a lot in pre-season but now we need to bounce back and they’ll be a lot of changes that’s for sure.

“We need to make sure we win games, we win our battles, we win individual battles, we’re first to the ball and today we weren’t that.”

Mark Bonner felt Cambridge hit a high standard as they opened their Sky Bet League One campaign with a win.

Cambridge, who produced a great escape to survive in the third tier at the end of last season, made a perfect start to the new campaign with a 2-0 victory over Oxford.

Jack Lankester fired them ahead before a goal on debut from the impressive Gassan Ahadme saw them in control at the break and they limited Oxford to just one Stan Mills gilt-edged chance in the second period.

“I thought we were excellent; really good and really good value for the result, and I thought the performance was very strong,” Bonner said.

“The first 30 minutes was the absolute blueprint for us. I thought we were outstanding. Then second half we struggled to get out of our half a little bit but I never felt under huge pressure.

“It’s a really good result and a really good start. A clean sheet and three points obviously is important to us, but the performance level as well is really important.

“There were some really good performances out there today, so it’s a good day for us.

“I thought we started the game very well, played with some good intent with the ball, played forward but not rushed and had good control in certain moments of the game.”

Saikou Janneh, who started only once in League One last season, played a crucial role in both Cambridge goals, and he came in for particular praise.

“I thought he was brilliant, really good. He’s really built up over pre-season, exactly what we want in a wide player, showed himself to be more reliable.

“He’s getting better and better without the ball so I’m really pleased with him.”

Liam Manning felt that his Oxford side had not hit the required levels.

“The result obviously is hugely disappointing,” he said. “I just said to the players that I actually think it could be one of the best things for us, madly.

“That wake-up call, if we make sure we respond and we take the lessons from it. I think it could be a positive lesson for us.

“The game went exactly how we knew it would. How we set up, the game plan was exactly what we thought they’d do. When you have the volume of the ball that we do, nine corner kicks to two. We didn’t create a huge amount.

“Without quality in the top third, what you do is you come away 0-0. You dominate the game that way and give them nothing.

“I know we’re not the finished article, there’s a long way to go. We have to take the experience, the lesson, and make sure we don’t have it again.”

Cambridge head coach Mark Bonner was frustrated after his side missed the chance to keep their fate in their own hands on the final day of the League One campaign.

The 1-0 defeat to Burton left Bonner’s side needing both MK Dons and Morecambe to drop points on the last day to have any chance of staying up.

“We wanted to go into Sunday with it in our control and it isn’t,” Bonner said.

“We have to respond and win our game firstly and hope other things go for us. Tonight is disappointing because of the opportunity we had to put it in our own hands.

“But if we are being honest six weeks ago we would have taken being in it on the last day.”

Burton’s Mark Helm scored the only goal with a deflected effort and Bonner felt his side contributed to their own downfall.

He added: “Their goal came off our own poor play and there are a few teams in the league you don’t want to go behind to and they are certainly one of them.

“Burton had a few good chances and will say they should have killed the game off, but they didn’t so we were always in the game.”

Striker Sam Smith thought he had equalised late on with a header saved by Burton goalkeeper Jordan Amissah, with Bonner unsure whether the ball had crossed the line.

“Either that is the best save I’ve ever seen or the ball has crossed the line,” Bonner said.

“I don’t know which but everyone was celebrating as if it had (crossed the line). Tough to see on the video and the replays but the shape of it looked like it had.”

With safety already secured Albion boss Dino Maamria was a happy man as his side reached a season-high 14th spot going into the final game.

“I thought it was a very good performance throughout,” Maamria said.

“We played some good football and got the balance right. We controlled the middle of the park. We scored one and could easily have got two or three.”

Maamria praised goalkeeper Amissah, making his first start since January, but reserved his top praise for match-winner Helm, who is finishing the season in really good form having joined from Burnley in January.

He added: “Jordi deserved his start. Although he hasn’t played, he has been a huge part of what we have been doing and getting that clean sheet is testament to him.

“John Brayford and Sam Hughes were superb at the back but what about Mark Helm? What a performance that is. He is a top, top player. He showed what he is capable of, and he is getting better and better.

“All in all, lots of positives tonight. We are getting better and better all the time.”