1st January 2024
Colchester United vs Gillingham @ Colchester Community Stadium
EFL League Two
15:00 KO
£24.50 entry (family zone, includes one child and two free programmes)
Attendance - 4,923 (998 away fans)
Half-time score: Colchester United 0-0 Gillingham
Goal:
Gillingham: Malone - 54'
Brief match highlights are on YouTube, see link below:
Final Score: Colchester United 0-1 Gillingham
Typically, I look forward to my annual Colchester United New Year's Day game. There was a big display planned for this afternoon so I brought my daughter along, but following recent results and an apparent lack of care about the fans from head coach Matty Etherington and chairman Robbie Cowling, the display was cancelled and protests were planned, which included no drum, no singing etc. Whilst I support the sentiments, it is a shame to kill the vibe on New Year's Day, I could only hope that it was a success, as I'm sorry but Etherington is out of his depth unfortunately, as good of a coach as he reportedly is. To add to the mix was a large contingent of Gill's fan who made the relatively short journey over the Dartford Crossing and into Essex. Still wounded from Col U beating them 3-0 earlier in the season, I'm sure they smelt blood and were looking to put the hosts to the sword.
Todays programme was the same typical high quality and had big John Akinde on the front, who I was pleased to see starting, with young centre-back Zach Mitchell in the centrefold.
It was another mild winters day, with not even a breeze in the air, closed off with a shower in the final 10 minutes. Lining up on this New Year's Day game were Col U in their blue and white stripes, with Gillingham in their eye-catching away fluorescent pink strip.
KEY MOMENTS
CU = Colchester United
GH = Gillingham
3' - GH - Hawkins bullies his way through a tame challenge and immediately threads Jefferies in, he is one-on-one, opens his body and shoots towards the far corner, it is heading in but Goodman gets down brilliantly to make a fantastic save, also collecting the ball to prevent any follow-up.
14' - CU - A sublime move from Col U, a long-ball forwards is nodded down by big John to Chilvers, he bursts down the left and squares back to Taylor, open on the far-side of the box, the net is wide open but somehow he drags his shot wide, how on Earth did he miss?
34' - GH - Mahoney whips in a free-kick, captain Ehmer get on the ball, his skimmed header forcing another good reaction save from Goodman.
37' - CU - A great turn from Read in the middle of the park, he strides into the space and powers in a shot from 25yrds, but the effort is always rising and goes over the crossbar.
42' - GH - A Mahoney corner is curled perfectly into the danger area, centre-back Masterson rises highest, his glancing effort just wide.
48' - GH - Gillingham attack down the right flank, Mahoney sends in a great cross, Hawkins gets in-front of the defender and heads towards goal, he beats Goodman but the ball slams into the crossbar and out, so close to the opener!
49' - CU - A quick break from Col U sees Taylor take the ball down the middle, with options either side he sends it to his right to find Read, he jinks his way to the edge of the box and fires in a strike, but it is a bit tame and a relatively comfortable save from ex-Col U loanee Jake Turner.
52' - GH - Gillingham attack down the left through Jefferies, he crosses the ball into the box, a diving header from Hawkins forcing another save from Goodman.
54' - GH - GOAL (0-1) - It was coming, and the Gills finally break the deadlock. Malone has the ball on the left, Fevrier flies out at pace to challenge, but misses the ball, it opens up for Malone, he takes the ball into the box, his shot across the face of goal is deflected in off Zach Mitchell, beating Goodman at his near-post, typical Col U luck.
58' - GH - Coleman squares the ball back to Ogie, whose perfectly struck snapped strike just inside the box is heading in, a diving Goodman gets his fingertips on the ball, diverting it onto the inside the upright and somehow out, some fine stops from Goodman keeping Col U still in the game.
73' - CU - Chilvers does some great work down the right and sends a perfect ball into the box, substitute Hooper is at the near-post to turn it in, but somehow fails to make contact....
75' - CU - Mixing things up, Chilvers lofts a ball into the box, Hooper chests it down, turn and shoots, the effort is good and drives through the traffic until it is but blocked by the final defender!
Col U did try hard today and did a lot of things well, but that final ball or final touch always let them down, as all the opportunities fizzled away to nothing. The first-half was fairly even, but after the break Gillingham turned it on for 15mins to secure the game, and they then sat back and defended their lead, confident the U's front-line was impotent. Whilst it should be considered that Gillingham are competing for play-offs, the style of play has certainly gone downhill since Garner was sacked (something I still don't understand), as has the atmosphere, it was sad to hear the usually loud U's in silent protest. But, it seems to have worked as shortly after the game, Etherington's departure was announced. Before he left he confirmed Joe Taylor, Col U's top scorer, has been recalled by Luton Town, surely to be loaned out at a L1 or Championship club, which could be a big blow. Col U need a new manager in fast, hopefully one with experience, to make the most of this January transfer window, a striker, defensive midfielder and centre-back surely top of the wishlist. All I can hope is that Owen Goodman is not recalled by Crystal Palace as he has been phenomenal the last few games. There is always drama at the U's, they are a club on the edge of the precipice but I'm looking forward to seeing how this all plays out, and I hope that we can evade the dreaded relegation into the National League, UP THE U'S!!!!
Line-Ups:
COLCHESTER UNITED: Owen Goodman, Zach Mitchell, Tom Dallison, Connor Hall (C), Jayden Fevrier, Marley Marshall-Miranda, Arthur Read, Ellis Iandolo, Noah Chilvers, Joe Taylor, John Akinde. SUBS: Matt Jay, Owura Edwards, Tom Hopper, Chay Cooper, Bradley Ihionvien, Sam Hornby, Al-Amin Kazeem.
GILLINGHAM: Jake Turner, Scott Malone, Shadrach Ogie, Max Ehmer (C), Conor Masterson, Cheye Alexander, Dom Jefferies, Ethan Coleman, Connor Mahoney, Oliver Hawkins, Ashley Nadesan. SUBS: George Lapslie, Tom Nichols, Robbie McKenzie, Macauley Bonne, Glenn Morris, Max Clark, Jayden Clarke.
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