The home side made the perfect start with a goal inside two minutes when a Kell Watts cross from the left was met by Shayne Lavery, whose effort was saved by James Belshaw before being nodded in by Dom Ball.

That lead was doubled on 28 minutes after Notts County failed to deal with Adam Mayor’s long throw and Lavery was on hand to score from close range.

It was 3-0 five minutes later when Sullay Kaikai’s free-kick was taken down by James Gibbons, who thumped a superb finish past Belshaw.

The momentum of the game shifted five minutes before half-time when a mix-up at the back saw Cambridge goalkeeper Jake Eastwood sent off for handling outside his box and Lee Ndlovu headed onto the U’s bar before the break.

Despite their one-man disadvantage, Cambridge added a fourth 10 minutes after the restart with defender Gibbons scoring his second, heading in a Mayor free-kick.