Colchester V ECFC matchday thread

[denzel]

well the weather says wet all night but dry by 9 am!- heres hoping guys!

10 to 10 and still raining, forecast is wrong, unsurprisingly.

 

[ramone]

Just spoken to my nephew who lives about 20 miles away said its horrible up there but not as bad as it is is Devon by the sound of it

 

[Grecian2K]

Just to whet the appetite, thought you might enjoy a match report from our visit to deepest Essexshire in the Championship year.[y] (Their goalkeeper sounds strangely familiar! )

COLCHESTER UNITED 0 EXETER CITY 1
McNichol 60
Attendance: 3,369
CITY HEROES BANNED

TEAMS
COLCHESTER UNITED EXETER CITY
Andrew MARRIOTT Kevin MILLER
BRUCE Scott HILEY
Karl GODDARD Angus McPHERSON
GILBERT Jim McNICHOL
Scott DANIELS Shaun TAYLOR
MARMON Clive WHITEHEAD
Tom ENGLISH (Off 86) Tom KELLY
Tony ENGLISH Danny BAILEY
Trevor MORGAN Brian McDERMOTT
WILKINS Steve NEVILLE
TAYLOR Richard YOUNG
SCOTT (On 86) Richard DRYDEN(Not Used)
COLLINS (Not Used) Ben ROWE(Not Used)
Referee: David Reed (West Heath)
Match Report by Trina Lake
Exeter City took a giant stride towards promotion last night with a crucial win that extended their lead at the top of Division 4 to four points and may have doomed Colchester to relegation.
But they will be missing two of their heroes from their Layer Road success over Easter. It has just been confirmed that Jim McNichol and Clive Whitehead have gone over the disciplinary points limit and face automatic suspension. Whitehead is ruled out of Saturday’s big derby game at Torquay - Richard Dryden will replace him there – and McNichol misses Monday’s visit of Aldershot, with Lee Rogers poised to step into the back four.
City cushioned the blow of losing two such important figures for key matches with last night’s success. It was a game they had to win if they were still to be considered serious championship contenders and they did it with a performance full of commitment, confidence and true professionalism.
And the man who won it for them epitomises those qualities. McNichol, rugged in defence, single-minded in attack, struck his 10th goal of the season in the 60th minute to secure City’s first away win of 1990.
There was a feeling of unbridled jubilation among players and staff on the long trip back from Essex. They feel they are on their way to Division 3 and the fans who were there to witness this important result agree, as their confident chants proclaimed. “The Reads are going up” came the cry from the terraces, perhaps a little premature with seven games to go. But after hearing how other promotion contenders had contrived to strengthen City’s position, the bold prediction assumed greater credibility.
Manager Terry Cooper admitted afterwards: “I can hardly believe how the other results have gone for us. Its tremendous. We’ve played some rubbish away from home this season but tonight we were superb. And if we’re not careful, we’re going to go up,” he added proudly.
Gone was the dejection of last week’s defeat at York and the disappointment of the dropped home points against Stockport on Saturday. Self belief replaced self doubt as City dominated their relegation haunted hosts.
Cooper made one significant change to the starting line up – bringing in Richard Young for Kevin Summerfield up front. And the manager’s orders for solid defending and purposeful attacking were rigidly followed. Nobody shirked responsibility and that’s something we haven’t been able to report consistently this season.
City took the initiative from the first whistle, but Colchester goalkeeper Andrew Marriott was not seriously tested until the 38th minute when a McNichol shot forced him into a low save to his left.
McNichol also sent a towering header just wide and Tom Kelly, looking far more comfortable in midfield than he did at the weekend, got his head bravely to a Scott Hiley cross on the 18 yard line and sent Marriott scrambling to keep the ball out.
The Colchester ‘keeper had less trouble dealing with tamer efforts from the lively Steve Neville, Shaun Taylor and Danny Bailey as City applied continuous pressure while Kevin Miller was largely redundant in the first half.
Miller looked to be in trouble though in the 48th minute when battling Trevor Morgan and Tom English combined to tee up Tony English but with only Miller to beat from 10 yards, he lost all composure and blasted the ball out of the ground.
City’s miserly defence allowed Colchester only the odd half chance from then on – the back four superbly supported at all times. There was never any real doubt about the result with City in such determined mood.
The goal that secured those three precious points and completed city’s first double of the season came from a set piece. Whitehead, whose service had been excellent throughout, swung in a free kick right footed. It was cleared, but only as far as Kelly. He hoisted the ball high into the danger zone, Taylor headed down and McNICHOL lashed it into the back on the net. It was the first goal that Colchester had conceded at Layer Road in 555 minutes of football and one the home side never looked capable of equalising.
And they let in a second late on but were reprieved by referee David Reed from west Heath. Angus McPherson, sharp and tenacious at left back, burst forward and squared from the by-line, forcing Karl Goddard into a panic clearance that cannoned off Young and into the net, but Mr Reed said the City striker had handled.
Young’s disappointment aside, it mattered not, especially when the other results from Division 4 filtered through. Second placed Grimsby were sent crashing to their first home defeat in 10 games as Peterborough pulled off a shock 2-1 victory. Chesterfield were held 2-2 by Scarborough and Carlisle slumped 3-1 at home to Aldershot. Southend had former City striker Roy McDonough sent off at Burnley after just 15 minutes but hung on for a 0-0 draw.
And now you’re going to believe us, the Reds are going up.

Would happily take the same result again today!!!

G2k
On the (VERY late-running) 07.53....currently stuck at Reading waiting for a frigging DRIVER now, FFS

 

[denzel]

Rain stopped and bright sunshine now. Game on!

 

[OfficialECFC]

Safe and hopefully not a soaking wet trip to everyone heading up today.

Our pre-match preview: http://bit.ly/2i4BDW

 

[Fowler]

Sunshine in South London. Looking forward to my first away match of the season and feeling hopeful for a victory!

 

[denzel]

Safe and hopefully not a soaking wet trip to everyone heading up today.

Our pre-match preview: http://bit.ly/2i4BDW

That was posted on Thursday! Any chance of a confirmation that it will go ahead??

edit: from the Colchester site:

http://www.cu-fc.com/page/News/0,,10424~1875509,00.html

 

[OfficialECFC]

I was about to post that article. Seems it is still on for now at least!

 

[Hampshire White]

Come on Exeter! I hope you get something from the game today, because it would ultimately help Leeds!

 

[older-codger]

had a light shower half hour ago but sun now shining again in Central London. East side of country should be ok - sunshine and possible showers. Can't see the game being called off