4th January 2025
Colchester United vs Accrington Stanley @ Colchester Community Stadium
EFL League Two
15:00 KO
£22.50 (includes complimentary programme)
Attendance - 4,366 (112 away fans)
Half-time score: Colchester United 0-1 Accrington Stanley
Goals:
Accrington Stanley: Whalley - 18'(P), 59'
Brief match highlights are on YouTube, see link below:
Final Score: Colchester United 0-2 Accrington Stanley
A strong run of results over Christmas came crashing down on New Year's Day when 2-1 up away at Swindon Town with 10 minutes to go they conceded two late goals and had Ellis Iandolo sent off, to gift relegation rivals 3-points, not ideal. With this game marking the 1-year anniversary of the Cowley brothers taking over at Col U, they had a good chance to make amends as they hosted a struggling Accrington Stanley, who have a huge FA Cup 3rd match away at Anfield to look forward to next week, so would they be distracted by this?
Today's complimentary programme had Teddy Bishop on the front cover, with Tom Hopper in the centrefold. It was a bumper edition with a special to highlight the aforementioned anniversary.
With weather warnings across the UK, things weren't too bad in North Essex, the frost covers protecting the pitch, although it did look to be cutting up quite a bit in the warm-ups, with a fair few islands of sand dotted around the pitch, still a damn sight better than how it looked last year! Into the winter chill, Col U lined up their iconic blue and white stripes, with Accrington Stanley in an away black kit with yellow accents. The Col U pre-match flag show was in fine form again.
KEY MOMENTS
CU = Colchester United
AS = Accrington Stanley
8' - CU - Edwards attacks down the left-flank, he drives into the box then evades multiple tackles as he tries to find until he is brought down by Rawson, some shouts for a penalty but I think he went down too easy.
11' - CU - Egbo chips the ball over defence to release Thorn down the right flank, he skips onto the ball and crosses it in first time towards the near-post to find Taylor, but under pressure from Rawson his effort goes over.
13' - AS - Accrington attack down the left, the ball is dinked in by Hunter and Walton is open, his headed effort looks in from the far-end but it loops just over the bar, big let off!
18' - AS - PENALTY & GOAL (0-1) - Accrington attack down the left flank again (Col U's right flank), Khumbeni hits the ball up to captain and danger man Whalley, he skins Flanagan and darts into the box where he is taken out by the covering Flanagan, with the referee pointing immediately to the spot. Whalley steps up to take the penalty and drills it into the bottom left corner, giving 6ft7 Matt Macey no chance even if dived the correct way. Looking back at the replay there appears to be minimal contact on Whalley.....
30' - CU - Great work from Thorn, ball slid into the danger area, it breaks for Teddy Bishop who sees the chance and puts his laces through the ball, but an incredible sliding block comes in to see the effort spin out for a corner, goal saving challenge for sure.
37' - CU - Edwards causing havoc down the left again, he manages to get to the byline where he lays the ball back across goal, but it evades everyone, just needed a touch to go in!
41' - CU - A Payne corner is swung into the near-post, looks a simple one for Accrington to deal with but Ben Woods fluffs his lines and nearly turns the ball in!
45'+2' - CU - Goal mouth scramble, but the ball does not break kindly for Col U and the chance goes begging, would have been huge to equalise just before the break.
59' - AS - GOAL (0-2) - Col U on-top in the 2nd half but unable to carve out any decent chances. Up the other end, Accrington attack down the right, Col U fail to clear and the ball drops to Whalley, nobody pressures him, he can hardly believe the gift and drives his laces through the ball, it is at Macey but the ball goes through the keepers hands and into the net, second goal for the Stanley captain. This goal sums-up Col U's afternoon, poor, poor, poor!
63' - CU - A frustrated Bishop drives through the middle, skipping past three challenges, he plays Taylor in the box, just as he is about to pull the trigger he is clattered, Rawson the offender again, but the referee is unmoved, typical.....
85' - CU - Col U huff-and-puff and create nothing of note, then to cap it all off, Lyle Taylor is injured defending a corner and goes off injured, and with all substitutions used, we have to play the final 14 minutes (9mins of injury time) with 10-men, with the Col U fans exiting in droves.
Another questionable refereeing performance cannot detract from how terrible Col U were, especially in the 2nd half, probably the worst half of football I've seen in North Essex and I've seen some shite! The first half performance was actually half-decent and chances were created for at least a goal, but the ball just did not break for them. The midfield looked lost today, Accrington seemingly winning most 2nd and 3rd balls, the Col U players looked scared to tackle, and looked like the team trying to preserve themselves for Liverpool. The only bright spark was youngster Oscar Thorn on the right wing, he looks a tidy player, tall, strong, fast, direct and with a great touch. The Lyle Taylor injury is a worry, especially with Samson Tovide nowhere near the squad currently, Col U are lacking firepower up top and this will not help the situation. It was a 1-year anniversary to forget for the Cowley brothers, which based on this performance alone, nothing has changed. I am hoping this is a blip, we had a good Nov-Dec keeping 7 clean-sheets in a row and things looked to be getting better for a fleeting moment. A word on Accrington Stanley, a typical Northern team, strong, physical and direct, with captain Whalley providing the key moments of class to take the 3-points back to Lancashire, I wish them well in their huge FA Cup game. Here's to a pick up in performances and to some reinforcements this transfer window, 10 days rest for the squad too, UP THE U'S!!!
Line-Ups:
COLCHESTER UNITED: Matt Macey, Mandela Egbo, Tom Flanagan (C), Aaron Donnelly, Frankie Terry, Jamie McDonnell, Teddy Bishop, Oscar Thorn, Jack Payne, Owura Edwards, Lyle Taylor. SUBS: Harry Anderson, John-Kymani Gordon, Arthur Read, Fiacre Kelleher, Ben Goodliffe, Tom Smith, Tom Hopper.
ACCRINGTON STANLEY: Billy Crellin, Ben Woods, Zach Awe, Farrend Rawson, Donald Love, Nelson Khumbeni, Dan Martin, Shaun Whalley (C), Ash Hunter, Josh Woods, Tyler Walton. SUBS: Kelsey Mooney, Alex Henderson, Seamus Conneely, Michael Kelly, Jimmy Knowles, Jake Batty, C Brown.
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