23rd November 2024
Grimsby Town vs Colchester United @ Blundell Park - Cleethorpes, nr. Grimsby
EFL League Two
12:30 KO
£23 entry
Attendance - 4,952 (218 away fans)
Half-time score: Grimsby Town 0-0 Colchester United
Goal:
Colchester United: Gordon - 78'
Brief match highlights are on YouTube, see link below:
Final Score: Grimsby Town 0-1 Colchester United
Today saw the U's travel up to North East Lincolnshire to play Grimsby Town in the early 12:30 kick-off, with the game being shown on Sky+. With only two wins to their name all season in the league, Col U were only two-points above the relegation zone, so a result was vital. With Grimsby Town just inside the play-offs this was set to be a huge task, however, Blundell Park seems to be a happy hunting ground for the U's of late, and with a lot of injured players available again, Col U were almost up to full-strength for the first time for at least a month!
It was a horrible wintry day, with strong winds, driving rain and low temperatures! Due to this and the early kick-off I parked up only 10mins from the ground foregoing the usual bimble around the seafront, and walked in, heading straight to the club shop to grab today's programme.
With this in hand I walked around the residential estate to the away fans entrance and into the Osmond Stand, and straight into the Mariners Bar for a much needed cup of tea and a sausage roll! Really enjoyed the old-school feel of the bar, covered in scarves from teams all over the place.
After warming up I headed into the stand, perched on the corner, and before long, the players were lining up in the unpleasant conditions, with Grimsby Town in their famous black and white stripes with Colchester United in their third choice red kit, with both their blue and white stripes and all-black shirts too much of a clash.
KEY MOMENTS
GT = Grimsby Town
CU = Colchester United
3' - CU - Early chance for the U's,a long Iandolo free-kick sees Tovide played in down the left, he immediately whips the ball into the danger area and the onrushing Anderson looks in, but the defender, Hume, manages to get a boot on the ball to turn it over for a corner.
7' - CU - Captain Lyle Taylor shows strength to control a Goodliffe long ball and beat the defender on the right, he crosses the ball in and Anderson is on the end of it again, his diving header directed towards the bottom left corner is stopped by the outstretched hand of Wright and Col U are unable to capitalise on the follow-up, Col U should be 1-0 up.
15' - GT - Hume cuts in off the left wings and surges forwards, he squares the ball into Ainley who shoots inside the box first time, but the effort is too close to Macey and he makes the stop.
31' - CU - Read intercepts the ball in the middle of the park and immediately threads Tovide through down the right, he takes the ball into the box and shimmies left and right to wrong-foot the defender and seeing a glimmer of space he pokes the ball towards the bottom right corner, it catches everyone out but keeper Wright is able to dip down and just get a hand on the ball to prevent the goal.
64' - CU - From a set-piece, ball is headed down and Anderson buries it into the net, but the goal is ruled out for offside, was it going to be one of those afternoons?
69' - CU - Long diagonal free-kick from Donnelly, Anderson wins the ball and passes to Tovide on the edge of the box, he turns his man, drives into the box and shoots towards the bottom right corner of the goal, but Wright dives across to push the ball out for a corner.
74' - GT - Ball drilled in from the left by Khouri, Donnelly clears but is a bit too close for comfort and pings off the post and out for a corner, heart-in-the-mouth moment!
78' - CU - Col U corner sent to the far-post, Goodliffe rises highest but his effort is turned away.
78' - CU - GOAL (0-1) - Egbo steals the ball deep along the right-flank, he pulls back to substitute Payne on the edge of the box who immediately shuffles it left to fellow substitute John-Kymani Gordon, and in a central position he takes a touch to control the ball then with precision slots it into the bottom left corner for his first goal for the U's, the away fans go wild!
94' - GT - A neat 1-2 on the right sets substitute Obikwu through, inside the box and from a tight angle he shoots, but Macey is out fast and he spreads his large frame wide to make a crucial save!
What a result, and it made the long journey and braving the elements well worth it! Col U wins are a rarity, let alone away wins, and it was well deserved. The U's battled hard and created the better chances in the game, and the hardy Col U fans backed them every step of the way, the over 4,500 Grimsby fans largely silent throughout. After going 1-0 up Col U went up a gear and pinned Grimsby in their half for large periods and other than Obikwu's effort in stoppage time, closed out the game in comfortable fashion, with the Grimsby fans streaming out in droves long before the final whistle. A hard-earned and massive 3-points from the U's sees them now 4-points above the relegation zone, and with the squad almost up to full-strength hopefully they can begin to move up the table, I still maintain that they are a better team than the standings suggest. To celebrate the victory I drove the short journey to the seafront and went into Papa's, the UK's largest fish and chip shop encompassing an entire pier, and the haddock and chips, with a Hull pattie (a battered potato and sage patty) and curry sauce on the side, was phenomenal - has to be my favourite chippy in the UK.
Next up for Col U is Fleetwood Town away, another huge trek for a 12:30 kick-off, big respect to all U's fan who make the journey, let's hope they are rewarded two weeks in a row, UP THE U's, UP THE U's, UP THE GOOD OL' WHITE & BLUES!!!
Line-Ups:
GRIMSBY TOWN: Jordan Wright, Tyrell Warren, Harvey Rodgers, Cameron McJannet, Denver Hume, Curtis Thompson, Jayden Luker, Callum Ainley, Evan Khouri, Luca Barrington, Danny Rose (C). SUBS: Jordan Davies, Jordan Obikwu, Jason Dadi Svanthorsson, Lewis Cass, Cameron Gardner, Doug Tharme, Seb Auton.
COLCHESTER UNITED: Matt Macey, Ellis Iandolo, Aaron Donnelly, Ben Goodliffe, Mandela Egbo, Arthur Read, Jamie McDonnell, Owura Edwards, Harry Anderson, Samson Tovide, Lyle Taylor (C). SUBS: Jack Payne, John-Kymani Gordon, Alex Woodyard, Fiacre Kelleher, Teddy Bishop, Tom Smith, Rob Hunt.
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