9th April 2022
Colchester United vs Stevenage @ JobServe Community Stadium - Colchester
EFL League Two
15:00 KO
£20 entry (pre-booked - includes programme)
Attendance - 3,094 (296 away fans)
Half-time score: Colchester United 0-1 Stevenage
Goals:
STEVENAGE: Reid - 45 + 6'
STEVENAGE: Norris - 49'
Brief match highlights are on YouTube, see link below:
Final Score: Colchester United 0-2 Stevenage
Since the brilliant away win I saw up in Scunthorpe, Col U have been on a good run of form, only narrowly losing to high-flyers Forest Green Rovers and Bristol Rovers, followed by beating Tranmere Rovers and Harrogate Town in the last two fixtures, with Sears and Chilvers linking up well, to open up an important 9-point gap to the relegation zone. Significantly, Stevenage, the opponents in todays game, were currently in the final relegation position, so a win today would put Colchester 12-points clear, and surely secure their football league status, so it was a huge game, which is why I just had to be there! At one point it looked like I wasn't going as I couldn't get diesel anywhere, but I got lucky Saturday morning to my relief.
I drove the familiar roads down to the JCS, A1088, A14 and A12 , parked in the Park & Ride and walked over the A12 to the ground where the weather was sunny but with a chilly wind - but perfect conditions for football, although I am glad that I layered up.
As per usual, I picked up one of the complementary programmes, this time with with youngster Tchamadeu on the front cover, presumably celebrating his stoppage time winner against Tranmere Rovers.
I got into the ground half-an-hour early to watch the warm-ups, and was pleased to see Col U mascot Eddie the Eagle back in the ground, I've not seen him since Covid, and I'm sure the kids loved seeing him back. The crowd was larger than the last couple of games, presumably in anticipation of a big performance from the U's to cement their league status.
Col U started brightly, and in the 7th minute, Coxe took the ball down the right wing, cut into the box and squared the ball to Judge, who was open in the area, but his shot sailed over the crossbar. In the following minute, Stevenage hit back quickly, a long ball hit with the outside of the boot found ex-Col U striker through on goal, but his tame half-volleyed effort was well covered by Shamal George. In the 11th minute, a Judge corner was met by Col U's captain Chambers, but his headed effort flashed wide.
Following the good start for Col U, Stevenage began to play themselves back into the game, largely thanks to the dark arts and easily fooled officials, they were making a meal out of every contact situation, and there were free-kicks seemingly with every play, but the tactic paid off as the Col U rhythm was upset, and Stevenage began to get the upper hand. Stevenage looked dangerous on the break, and from long-balls, and in the 16th minute, a rehearsed corner saw Taylor scything into the box from a quick 1-2, he blasted in a dangerous low shot that was kept out, but Reid was almost able to tap in the rebound. In the 21st minute, an attack down Col U's left saw Reid through on goal and he looked certain to score - however he was judged to be marginally offside, much to my relief.
Towards the end of the first half, Col U began to string a few passes together and attack Stevenage. In the 35th minute, a Judge corner was helped on by Chambers and the ball fell to Eastman, who blazed over with an effort more akin to a hoofed clearance. In the 41st minute, Judge was able to prod a through-ball down the middle to unleash Sears, he was through on goal, but before he could fire off his shot, he was well marshalled by James-Wildin who drew a corner. In the 44th minute, Wright went down injured for Col U from a crunching tackle, and the so far overly sensitive referee waved played on, and Stevenage attacked and nearly broke through. Col U were clearly riled, but kept on attacking, and went close in stoppage time courtesy of a looping backheader from Wright. In the following minute, beyond the lengthy allotted 4mins of stoppage time (largely due to Skuse getting a nasty knock) Stevenage's wing back James-Wildin pinged up a long ball to Norris, he won the headed and Coxe went down, looking to the referee for a foul, but he waved play-on and Norris was in a lot of space, he squared the ball to Reid whose shot was well stopped by Shamal George, but the rebound fell to Taylor, he took a touch in the box and fired in a shot, it cruely rebounded off the leg of Eastman and was looping into the far corner and helped in by Reid for the opening goal. It was the worst time for Col U to concede, they completely turned off, waiting for the whistle and they let Stevenage in to lead the game just before the break - completely changing the dynamic of the half-time team talks, and leaving themselves having to come back from a goal down at home, again.
In the second half, Stevenage stormed out and completed the smash-and-grab with a second goal courtesy of ex-U Luke Norris. A long throw-in was cleared only as far as Coker, he headed the ball back into the box and Norris was the only one to react, and he got to the ball just before the onrushing Shamal George to dink the ball in with his head, George would have done better standing his ground. Norris clearly enjoyed that one against his old club, and it was an important one for his hometown club who were desperate for the points in their bid for survival.
Right after the goal, Akinde was brought on to partner Sears up-front as they went in search for at least two goals. I am baffled as to why Sears consistently starts up front on his own when the team insist on punting long hopeful balls up to the diminutive striker - surely you would at least start with a target man like Akinde if you are dead-set on that tactic? In any case, Col U toiled as they tried to get a foothold in the game, and it was not until the 59th minute that they fashioned their first chance of the half, a free-kick was played short to Chilvers and from 20 yards out he hit a brilliant first-time shot that beat keeper Pym but crashed into the post and into the path of Sears to tap in, que rapturous applause until the offside flag was noticed from the linesman, having watched the replay, it must have been very tight - but the Col U fans certainly made their thoughts clear.
As Col U pressed forward, they left a lot of space at the back, and Stevenage nearly scored from some plain old route 1 football, a ball was punted up the field by keeper Pym, it bounced and Reid won the second ball in the box, but it was well saved by Shamal George to save Col U's blushes. In the 66th minute, Chilvers made another run across the outside of the box, and fired in a strike that went just over. In the 68th minute, Stevenage went close to embarrassing Col U, Bostwick stole the ball deep in the Col U half and unleashed Reid, I was expecting the net to ripple, but somehow Shamal George got down to save the ball to save a glimmer of hope for the U's. In the 71st minute, Col U had a penalty shout as Akinde burst into the box, but I have to say that he did go down too easily for a big man. Col U were making no headway, but were gifted a lifeline in the 84th minute as goalscorer Norris picked up a second booking to be given his marching orders. Stevenage dropped back but countered well, and their compactness limited Col U to only 2 further chances, despite 7 minutes injury time being played. In the 89th minute, Chilvers had another crack, this time from just inside the box, a curling strike that went millimetres wide of the far top corner much to the exasperation of the crowd. In the 1st minute of the lengthy stoppage time, Col U substitute Andrews headed a corner ball at the far post, and it looked to be heading in, but it hit the post and was cleared away before it was poached by a Col U attacker. For the final 6 minutes, Col U struggled and Stevenage kept stealing the ball and pinging it up to the corner flags to close out the game and get their first away win since August, secure the double over Col U, and break the poor run of form to give them hopes of survival.
Today was an awful performance from Col U, up there with the abject performance against Barrow, their home performances are disastrous and they have dropped so many points against relegation rivals it is unreal - they should be well clear by now. On another day, it could be argued that they could have got 1 or 2 goals and have been leading, but the performances and especially the tactics are just generally awful. Playing with Sears upfront on his own when hoofing long balls up is a desperate tactic and a sign of a clueless team with no direction. Experienced campaigners such as Chambers, Eastman and Skuse need to take a look at themselves, and I thought that Kenlock was awful again, I do not know how he makes the team over Tchamadeu. I also thought Judge was poor today, so many crosses and set-pieces were wasted, either being hit too far, or too low, it is getting tiresome and I must say that I think we play better without him. Edwards was missed today, Wright is decent, but he does not have the tenacity of Owura and looks a bit lost at times, and I also want to see Huws get some more game time. This is the most frustrating thing for me, we have the squad, but we don't seem to play to our strengths, again trying the same tired formula week-in week-out. Another win or two should see the U's safe, but a decent manager needs to brought in as soon as possible so they can begin to build a team for the next campaign, or else we face another year battling at the foot of the English Football League.
Line-Ups:
COLCHESTER UNITED: Shamal George, Cameron Coxe, Luke Chambers (C), Tom Eastman, Myles Kenlock, Brendan Wiredu, Cole Skuse, Tyreik Wright, Noah Chilvers, Alan Judge, Freddie Sears. SUBS: Miles Welch-Hayes, Tommy Smith, Corrie Andrews, Junior Tchamadeu, Sam Hornby, John Akinde, Emyr Huws.
STEVENAGE: Christy Pym, Ben Coker, Terence Vancooten, Scott Cuthbert (C), Luther James-Wildin, Arthur Read, Michael Bostwick, Jake Taylor, Jamie Reid, Luke Norris, Elliott List. SUBS: Luke Prosser, Charlie Carter, Bruno Andrade, Chris Lines, Ed Upson, Luke O'Neill, Laurie Walker.
Comments