Ryan Woods scored his first goal in almost seven years to earn Exeter a hard fought 1-0 win over battling Cambridge in League One.

Woods struck in the 23rd minute after Cambridge failed to clear a corner and the experienced playmaker drilled a superb shot into the opposite corner from the edge of the penalty box.

It was the only goal in a tight encounter and Cambridge will feel hard done by as they dominated the second half. But a failure to take the chances that came their way cost them and leaves them stranded at the foot of the table with one point on the board.

This was a fourth clean sheet in the league in a row for the Grecians, who are up to seventh in the table.

The deadlock was broken on 23 minutes as Woods struck a fine shot past Vicente Reyes for his first goal since scoring for a Brentford in a 3-1 win over Leeds back in November 2017.

Cambridge came out with purpose in the second half and had ample opportunities to equalise. Elias Kachunga fired straight at Whitworth, as did Ryan Loft, while Dan Nlundulu was also off target, as Exeter held firm.