5th December 2021
Colchester United vs Wigan Athletic @ JobServe Community Stadium - Colchester
FA Cup Second Round
12:30 KO
£18 entry (pre-booked ticket)
Attendance - 2,056 (179 away fans)
Half-time score: Colchester United 1-1 Wigan Athletic
Goals:
Wigan Athletic: Lang - 24'
Colchester United: Sears - 45'
Wigan Athletic: Lang - 75'
Brief match highlights are on YouTube, see link below:
Final Score: Colchester United 1-2 Wigan Athletic
With Colchester United having got past the first round of the FA Cup for the first time in a while, when they beat AFC Sudbury on the BBC, I was thrilled to see that they were given a home tie, and I knew I had to get down to see the game. Opponents are Wigan Athletic, a team flying high in League 1, and who must go into the tie as favourites, I make it that there are 40 places between the two teams based on current league standings! However, Colchester have played well the last three games, beating Exeter City, drawing with Newport County and beating Swindon Town in the Papa John's Trophy, so I was hopeful for an upset.
This is the first time that I have gone back to the Community Stadium since the beginning of the pandemic, and things have certainly changed, when booking tickets I had to make health declarations, form a bubble and I was only given a 'permit' until two days before the game when I received a ticket after answering more questions, then a seat was selected at random, from the stand I had selected (S3). It is good that Colchester are taking their responsibility seriously, especially as the Omicron variant is spreading, but it was certainly a different experience, I can see why attendances are falling as people have their own favoured seats.
The drive to Colchester is straightforward, cutting down the A1088 to the A14, then across to Ipswich and down the A12. The plan was to go to the Park & Ride, I had my wife and daughters in the car, and they wanted to get the bus into Colchester to do some Christmas shopping. However, when we got to the Park & Ride the gates were shut, and it soon dawned on us that there was no Park & Ride on a Sunday, which seemed really odd to us. Luckily I was 1hr 15mins early, so I nipped into the centre of Colchester, dropped off the family and managed to get parked in the stadium car park, although it was an eye watering £7!
I had a quick look in the club shop, they have lots of brilliant merchandise and I saw a few ideas for a Christmas present! I had a quick walk around the ground and although I am biased, I had forgotten how nice a stadium it is, especially for League 2.
I made my way to the Fan Zone and got a hot dog, a drink and a match day programme, I was really pleased to find one after the electronic one at Stevenage, I was worried they may have gone that way too. It cost £3 and is an excellent, glossy, highly detailed programme, with Jasper and Sears on the front cover.
I headed to my 'randomly generated' seat, and was lucky to be right behind the goal, in South Stand S3, Row L, and I had a perfect view of the game.
Colchester had put out a strong squad, although I would have liked to see Charlie Daniels in at LB, I thought he played well when I saw him against Stevenage. Wigan put out a semi-weakened team, with McClean and Edwards on the bench, but top scorer Will Keane and danger men Max Power and Callum Lang were all in the team. In support of Wigan striker Charlie Wyke, who recently suffered a cardiac arrest, all Col U players warmed up in tops bearing his name and number, a lovely touch and proof that the football family is still strong up in League 2.
Colchester started the game really positively, and had two good penalty shouts 5th and 6th minutes, each time Jasper dribbling into the box, only to be taken out. To add insult to injury, Jasper was booked for simulation for the second one, which looked wrong to me, the referee was clearly not going to be on the side of the underdog today. On the 6 minute mark, both teams paused play for a minute, and everyone in the stadium clapped in memory of young Birmingham City fan Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, whose horrific murder has shocked the footballing world, and the whole of the UK, a poignant moment of reflection.
Colchester continued to attack Wigan, being particularly strong down the right through Tchamadeu and Jasper, with Judge and Chilvers playing roaming roles, and Sears being a typical nuisance. Sears went very close on the 15th minute, his edge of the box scything effort was just wide of the top corner of the goal, and Judge had shot across goal in the 23rd minute, but it went painfully wide of the far post. Then, in the 24th minute, Wigan broke, and Power reacted quickly to hit a long ball that found Massey in a lot of space, young Col U left back Coxe was caught badly out of position after the Col U attack had broke down. Ex-Colchester player Massey pinged an early ball into the box, and it was met at the far post by on-form Callum Lang, Col U keeper Turner elected to dive at the near post, but Lang's touch was brilliant and the ball was hit in to the far top corner of the goal, Turner had no chance.
Despite going a goal down, Colchester continued to press, but were exposed to the counter at times, and in one moment, Massey hit a long ball, the flick on from Lang wrong-footed the Col U defence to put top Wigan goal scorer through one-on-one, I was expecting the net to bulge, but keeper Turner stood tall, and Keane's shot was rifled just to the right of him, and he made a good stop with his leg, a real let-off. At the end of the first half, Judge attacked down the right flank, and chipped a ball into the far post that was headed by Jasper, it was arcing into the top corner but was kept out by an acrobatic save from another ex-Col U player, goalkeeper Jamie Jones. Col U were having a good time down the right flank, and this time, Dobra made an excellent run into the box, cut the ball back to Sears, and from just outside the area, he unleashed a wonder strike to bury the ball in the net, off the inside of the post, a fantastic strike. Sears is really starting to find some form, which is great news for the U's.
In the second half, Colchester came out of the traps fast, and in the 49th minute, Chilvers hit a curling volley from a tight angle that was just wide of the far top corner of the goal, had it have gone in, it would have been a contender for goal of the round. However, after this, Wigan turned things up a notch, and began to put the Colchester defence under a lot of pressure, and shots and crossed balls began to rain in, Keane firing an open header straight at Turner. That man again, Massey, had a couple of good strikes on goal, and a Humphrys cross was nearly turned in by captain Tommy Smith. As Col U began to get back into the game, they were undone by another blistering counter attack down Col U's left flank, again, Coxe was found out of position, and a quick ball put Lang through on goal, and he never looked in doubt and he slotted the ball home to make it 2-1 to Wigan.
After the goal, the game got a little scrappy, and was interrupted with a lot of substitutions. Wigan brought on experienced campaigners, such as James McClean and Gwion Edwards to help close out the game, whereas Col U opted to bring on a host of younger players, such as Wiredu, Cooper and Tovide, and this approach worked well for Col U. In the final five minutes, Col U attacked in numbers, and were awarded corner after corner, and came close several times, substitute Cooper and Jasper both having good chances, and in both cases, Sears could have been on if the ball was squared rather than hit from a tight angle. During these attacks, many Col U fans had amassed at the edge of the pitch, with one fan running on and being escorted off, but despite the frantic finish, ultimately, Wigan were able to close out the game, and got through to the 3rd round of the FA Cup, where they could potentially face a big Premier League side.
Overall, that was a bittersweet day for the Col U faithful, sweet as they played excellently and matched what was on a paper a much better team, but bitter because for all their play and chances, they should have earnt a replay up in Wigan. Realistically, Col U would have probably lost that game, so perhaps not having to travel up to Wigan is a blessing in disguise. The team should be proud of themselves, and if they can take those performances into the league, then they should go well for the rest of the season, especially as Sears is beginning to hit form, but they do need to sort out the LB position. All-in-all, I enjoyed the day out, getting out of the car park wasn't too bad, I met the wife and kids in town and went for a cheeky Nando's, and got back at around 6pm. Next Col U game on the cards is an away trip on New Year's Day at Crawley Town, I have a mate who lives in nearby Redhill which will make things a lot easier. In the meantime, I hope to see a lot more points head Colchester's way, UP THE U'S!!
Line-Ups:
COLCHESTER UNITED: Jake Turner, Junior Tchamadeu, Luke Chambers, Tommy Smith(C), Cameron Coxe, Cole Skuse, Noah Chilvers, Sylvester Jasper, Alan Judge, Armando Dobra, Freddie Sears. SUBS: Dean Gerken, Charlie Daniels, Harry Beadle, Brendan Wiredu, Samson Tovide, Chay Cooper, Marley Marshall, Shawn McCoulsky, Jake Hutchinson.
WIGAN ATHLETIC: Jamie Jones, Jason Kerr, Jack Whatmough, Kelland Watts, Gavin Massey, Jordan Cousins, Max Power (C), Tom Pearce, Callum Lang, Will Keane, Stephen Humphrys. SUBS: Ben Amos, Curtis Tilt, Tendayi Darikwa, James McClean, Jordan Jones, Tom Naylor, Tom Bayliss, Gwion Edwards, Thelo Aasgaard.
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