Faced with driving wind and rain in freezing conditions, both sides were restricted to a handful of chances in front of goal.
Both goalkeepers had to be alert to pull off a smart save each but the spoilts were shared at the Abbey Stadium as the Glovers kicked off the busy Christmas period by halting their run of defeats.
Heading to Cambridge determined to end a winless streak, Darren Way made two changes to the side that went down to Forest Green Rovers seven days previous.
Reinforcing the backline by introducing Carl Dickinson for Enes Mahmutovic, last weekend’s scorer Rhys Browne was rewarded with a start in place of Wes McDonald who suffered a recurrence of a hamstring problem to miss out completely.
The latest injury to join the list, the winger joins Nathan Baxter (hip), Omar Sowunmi (ankle), James Bailey (knee), Alex Pattison (back), Diallang Jaiyesimi (knee) and Gabby Rogers (ankle) on the sidelines.
With the conditions making it hard to produce a flowing affair, the opening 25 minutes produced a largely uneventful event.
George Maris lined up a free-kick from 25 yards out which he hit into the wall on his first attempt and then fired over on the rebound.
A few minutes later Lewis had a go with a free kick as well, his effort beat the wall but went safely wide of Nelson’s goal as chances remained at a premium.
Looking bright whenever he got on the ball, Browne beat three men to cut in from the left but his shot was blocked before it even entered the penalty area.
With a succession of free-kicks and throw-ins slowing down the tempo of the match, United had to wait until just before the break to call Nelson into meaningful action.
Jabo Ibehre’s cross picked out the late run of Maris in the middle, with his volley forcing Nelson to gather close to his post.
In the last act of the half, Ibehre had a strike at goal himself from a Harrison Dunk cross that lacked the accuracy to trouble Town’s stopper.
Early into the second half Tom James had a speculative effort from a free kick from 35 yards out saved by Forde, as the wind and rain continued to swirl around the stadium.
Shortly afterward Town had their first real chance of the game, as D’Almeida kept his shot from the edge of the area low and Forde saved with his feet to deny the Benin international an opener.
Maris engineered himself a good chance to break the deadlock. Skipping into the area he drove a shot across Nelson’s but dragged it wide of the target.
On the hour mark Fisher replaced Jordan Green to make his first appearance since returning from injury suffered against Stockport County.
Proving he hadn’t frozen up in the cold Nelson saved from Reggie Lambe as the winger shot from close in.
Lewis spurned a golden chance to give Cambridge the lead, being played through onside the midfielder fired wide when one-on-one with Nelson.
Town were dealt a blow when Browne limped off injured with five minutes to go being replaced by Jake Gray.
Alefe Santos had a go from distance as Town looked to nick a late win but Forde got behind the shot as the points were shared in Cambridgeshire, providing Town with a platform to build on in the coming weeks.
Cambridge United: Forde; Halliday, Taylor, Darling, Dunk; Maris, Deegan, Lewis; Brown (Azeez 79′), Ibhere, Lambe (Amoo 86′).
Bookings: Deegan 20′
Subs not used: Mitov, Carroll, Taft, O’Neil, Davies.
Yeovil Town: Nelson; Dickinson, Warren, Gafaiti, James; Green (Fisher 60′), D’Almeida, Santos, Browne (Gray 85); Olomola (Zoko 74′), Arquin.
Bookings:Santos 19′
Subs not used:Scott, Mahmutovic, Donnellan, Patrick.
