15th January 2022
Colchester United vs Barrow @ JobServe Community Stadium - Colchester
EFL League Two
15:00 KO
£20 entry (pre-booked - includes programme)
Attendance - 2,297
Half-time score: Colchester United 0-0 Barrow
Goals:
Barrow: Dallison - 54' (OG)
Barrow: Kay - 91'
Brief match highlights are on YouTube, see link below:
Final Score: Colchester United 0-2 Barrow
Today was a huge game, and although it is a bit early to call this, it felt like a six-pointer with Barrow sitting just one point and one place above Colchester. Since I last saw Col U on New Year's Day, they had lost one of my favourite players, Sylvester Jasper, returning to his parent club Fulham, and three new players had joined the team in, Dallison, Andrews and Huws, the latter another ex-Ipswich player. With striker Andrews in the team, Col U had elected to play two up-front, hopefully providing some much needed support for Freddie Sears. Before the game, there was talk of protests, but although I did not see any, the fans were clearly expecting a result today, or else something would have to change. Despite Barrow being in 21st place, they are a formidable opponent, recently beating Ipswich Town and taking Championship side Barnsley to extra-time, scoring 4 goals against them, so this was going to be a difficult game for a team low on confidence, a draw being the minimum result required and expected.
The drive to Colchester is nice and easy, some twisty country roads through some pretty villages at the start, down the A1088, followed by a dual-carriage way blast along the A14 and down the A12. I was happy to see the Park & Ride was open this time so I went there and paid £3 parking using the app.
From the Park & Ride, the stadium is tantalisingly close, poking through the fog on the other side of the A12. To get there is a short 10 minute walk, across a bridge over the A12, then a left turn before the stadium comes into full sight.
I went into the club shop to look for a replacement baseball cap for the one I think I must have lost on the way back from Stevenage, but I couldn't find the same design, or for that matter, one I liked, making me all the more gutted that I had lost it in the first place. I am hoping my daughter has hidden it somewhere and that it will turn up one day. After this disappointment, I headed to the Fan Zone for some food, not having had lunch earlier, and I went for a cheese burger.
I was a bit sceptical as it was not freshly cooked, sitting in a bag on a hot shelf, and it did not look the best, however it actually tasted half-decent to my surprise, Rollover does seem to be a decent brand, the hot dogs are legendary. Whilst tucking in I watched the end of the Luton vs Bournemouth game on the big screen and saw a brilliant last minute winner for Luton. I wish Col U could do something like that once in a while, or Thetford Town for that matter, it normally seems to the other team doing it!
I picked up a complementary programme, and expecting to pay £3 for the honour, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they were free with all tickets today. It was the quality I had come to expect from the EFL, and on the front cover was was a picture of new loanee striker Corie Andrews, I hope he starts firing soon for the U's.
Having made my way to my seat, directly behind the goal, during the shooting practice I saw a nice moment when Sears ran over to a young fan and signed his shirt. Just as the players went into the dressing room before kick-off, there was a short presentation to celebrate Luke Chambers having made 800 league appearances in his career to date, an outstanding achievement, and in the top 5 of all time I am led to believe. With experience like that in the dressing room, Col U should really be doing better.
From kick-off, Col U started brightly, and in the 3rd minute, Sears picked up the ball on the edge of the area and hit a stinging half-volley towards goal that was well saved by Farman. This was shortly followed by a fairly decent penalty shout for the U's, but it was not given. Col U continued to dominate the first 20mins, but when things aren't going your way, everything seems to go against you, and they fell foul of yet more poor refereeing decisions. Barrow foul throws were being ignored but when Sears done it he was punished, not to mention excessive man-handling from the Barrow players being waved on, despite it at times looking like a game of rugby. This seemed to get to the Col U players, allowing Barrow into the game, and in 25th minute, during their first meaningful attack, Leicester City loanee Wakering had a glancing header that went narrowly wide.
Colchester responded well up the other end, going close in the 26th minute. Coxe, playing a more advanced role down the left wing, whipped in a good ball for the on-rushing Wiredu, but he did not get enough contact on the ball to guide it goal bound, and as it was sailing past the far post, Welch-Hayes came in for an easy tap-in, but the connection was poor and ball went out, like I said, when it's not going your way, nothing does, an absolutely huge chance to go 1-0 up.
The poor refereeing continued, and in the 35th minute, a blatant handball by Barrow in the middle of the park was ignored, and as the Col U players protested, Barrow nearly broke through to score. In the 40th minute, The U's manage to release Sears 1-on-1 with the keeper, and as he was about to pull the trigger, he was dispossessed by a last ditch tackle and out for a corner, not that it would help Col U as the set-pieces had been awful today and recently to be honest. For the final five minutes, Barrow grew into the game and ended the half in the ascendency.
In the second half, Barrow had obviously had a rocket put up them, and they came flying out of the traps, creating chance after chance in the first 5 minutes, the best of them a shot in 46th minute that Turner done well to push out for a corner. Colchester looked shell-shocked and completely devoid of ideas, losing possession almost as soon as they won it back, and hitting hopeful long balls to nowhere. This was exemplified by the Barrow goal in the 54th minute. Barrow attacked down the left wing, Brough put in a speculative ball across goal, and under no pressure from any attackers, new signee Dallison somehow turned the ball into his own net, a calamitous own goal and the mood of dejection from the Col U fans around the ground was palpable, I had not felt anything like it for a long time.
In their defence, Col U responded immediately and put the Barrow goal under intense pressure for 5 minutes, creating some good chances. In the 57th minute, Sears was nearly able to turn in the ball from a low drive across the box by Tchamadeu, but it was thwarted by a good reaction save. In the 59th minute, Tchamadeu put another good ball into the box, and again Wiredu was closest, but his contact was too feint, and it was Andrews this time who could not get to ball at far post in time.
Following this 5 minute spell, Barrow turned up the intensity and completely dominated the game, creating chance after chance, but luckily most efforts were straight down the throat of goalkeeper Jake Turner. Punctuating these chances, Col U struck the crossbar in the 74th minute, Judge hit in a free-kick from a deep position, and at the far post, Dallison headed the ball down back towards the penalty spot, falling to captain Chambers who cracked off a volley that struck the crossbar and out, again, close but not close enough, the theme of the Col U season.
Barrow continued to press for the 2nd goal, and they would have had it in the 85th minute if it wasn't for an excellent save from Turner to keep the U's in the game. The tannoy announced 5 minutes stoppage time, giving hope to the Col U fans and players to at least salvage a point from this wreck, but almost immediately, Barrow went up the other end and scored, White playing in Kay to strike the ball beyond Turner, and they almost got a third shortly after, cueing streams of Col U fans to leave the stadium early. I was glad when the final whistle went as the Col U players had lost their heads and it could easily have been worse.
The way the game ended without any real fight was disappointing to see, and many of the Col U faithful crowded the side of the pitch, calling for chairman Robbie Cowling and manager Hayden Mullins to get out of the club, in less polite terms of course, and to be fair, after that abject performance against relegation rivals, and at home, they had every right to be irate.
I felt more dejected than angry, Col U always used to fight, especially at home, and they had no fight in them at all, a very sad sight to see, especially when deep in the mire of a relegation battle, with their very survival as a football league club in the balance. Col U seem to be a team where if they do not score in the good spells, or go ahead first, then heads begin to drop and mistakes creep in. They were made to look very poor today by a physical, battling Barrow side, who should be further up the table based on this game and their recent FA Cup form. I would be surprised if Mullins keeps his job, and fresh blood is needed, especially in midfield where they always get out-muscled and lose the second and third balls. There is still half a season to go, so not all hope is lost, and there are some very good players in the team, however, things need to turn around quickly before it is too late. I plan to next be down in February for the huge home game against Carlisle United, and I hope by then that Col U have more points in the bag and are on better form, I would love to actually see a win this season! Until then, best of luck to the U's, they are going to need it. UP THE U'S!!!
Line-Ups:
COLCHESTER UNITED: Jake Turner, Miles Welch-Hayes, Luke Chambers (C), Tom Dallison, Junior Tchamadeu, Brendan Wiredu, Cole Skuse, Cameron Coxe, Alan Judge, Corie Andrews, Freddie Sears. SUBS: Dean Gerken, Tommy Smith, Luke Hannant, Frank Nouble, Noah Chilvers, Tom Eastman, Emyr Huws.
BARROW: Paul Farman, Patrick Brough, Matthew Platt, James Jones, Anthony Driscoll-Glennon, Tom White, Ollie Banks (C), Remeao Hutton, Jacob Wakeling, Bill Harris, Luke James. SUBS: Connor Brown, Mark Ellis, Jamie Devitt, Josh Kay, Josh Lillis, Jordan Stevens.
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