David Moyes' men were 1-0 down with just 30 seconds on the clock, but the Toffees fought back to take the lead before running out of steam in the second half.

It was Gary Brabin's side who broke the deadlock, Andrew Parkinson firing past former Cambridge player John Ruddy on the half-volley with less than a minute gone.

But Everton seized the lead courtesy of Poland Under-21 international Lukas Jutkiewicz, who first equalised by slotting beyond Danny Potter after some fine work down the left before heading home a second from six yards.

The pace of the game dropped, with neither side creating any clear-cut openings until Parkinson wrapped up his own brace after 62 minutes, looping the ball over Ruddy's head from the edge of the area.

The addition of Mikel Arteta prompted cheers from the travelling support, but their joy was short-lived as Robbie Wilmott collected a loose ball and fired across Ruddy to restore Cambridge's advantage with just over 15 minutes remaining.

And the home side sealed the win with 10 minutes remaining, some poor defending from the Premier League side allowing Mark Beesley to net.