It’s Saturday morning, the sun is out, and The U’sual Ramblings #10 comes to you on the back of an uplifting midweek 2-1 victory over League 1 opposition Charlton Athletic in the Papa John’s Trophy. Barring a calamitous collapse at Gillingham next week, the U’s are surely through to the next round already. Matt Bloomfield rung the changes for this game, so by my estimation he’s now seen 24 of our 40-man squad in action, and most of the rest are either the nippers or injured. I would imagine he’s probably now got a much better idea of his starting XI, and based on Tuesday’s game, surely that must at the very least include Hornby and Eastman?
Doesn’t that feel good!
The world outside U’s World
As Ukrainian forces continue to win back territory invaded by Putin’s Russian forces, news is breaking this morning that the Kerch Bridge — built by Russia following their 2012 invasion of Crimea and seen by many as an unwelcome symbol of the Russian totalitarian regime — has been severely damaged. Reports (and photos) indicate that the road crossing section of the bridge has been breached, and the rail section severely damaged. Experts believe because of the absence of blast damage in the photos available that this probably wasn’t a missile attack, and more likely the work of Ukrainian Special Forces — and who’s to say they won’t return and finish the job before too long.
Happy Birthday Putin 😊
The strategic importance of the Kerch Bridge cannot be overstated. It provides the only direct link between Russia and Crimea and is a vital supply route for Russian forces. Without the bridge, Russian reinforcements, ammunition and supplies cannot get to Crimea, effectively leaving their occupying forces cut off and at the mercy of the advancing Ukrainian army. Without wishing to be too much of a sabre-rattler glorifying war, with reports of morale amongst Russian conscripts at an all-time low, Russian men of conscription age trying to flee the country in their droves, and even public demonstrations against the war taking place on their own streets, this is a very bad day for Putin.
On the home front, Liz “the lady’s not for turning” Truss has u-turned almost immediately, with chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng calling off his proposed scrapping of the 45% top rate of income tax, which was met with international condemnation when it was announced. Unfortunately, many more of his ‘trickle-down’ economic measures, such as lifting the cap on banker’s bonuses, remain. Trade minister Conor Burns has been sacked from the government following a complaint of serious misconduct. He has of course denied any wrongdoing, and supporters consider his hasty removal has more to do with his perceived criticism of Truss at the Tory conference when he questioned “diplomacy by Instagram”.
On a lighter note, following Ukrainian Kalush Orchestra’s victory in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest earlier this year, organisers the European Broadcasting Union have confirmed it will likely be too dangerous for Ukraine to host the next competition. Consequently, thanks to Essex boy Sam Ryder’s second place performing “Space Man”, the United Kingdom have been chosen as hosts. Following a hard-fought race with Glasgow for selection, Liverpool has been selected as the venue, a decision heralded by EBU head Martin Osterdahl as the “ideal place”.
U’s World
Well, other than the great result on Tuesday night, U’s news this week has been dominated by the arrival of Lee Harrison from Wycombe Wanderers as our new goalkeeping coach, Matt’s first addition to his own backroom staff. Lee obviously worked closely with Matt Bloomfield whilst at Wycombe Wanderers, and like Matt is a local lad as well. To his credit, Wycombe manager Gareth Ainsworth has provided a very gracious and complimentary interview regarding the move, clearly disappointed to see both Matt and Lee leave, but wishing them (and the U’s) all the best for the future.
As you would expect from a goalkeeping coach, Lee enjoyed a long career between the sticks, mostly at clubs in and around London and the South East. Already pointed out on the board by RSCOSWORTH, he was at Barnet for the majority of his career, including those two 1998 semi-final play-off matches — I do indeed wonder whether 2-goal hero David Gregory will remind him of that 😊.
In other news, 19-year old midfielder Jayden Fevrier has signed a contract with Colchester United until the end of this season. A product of the West Ham youth set-up, Jayden has been on trial here since the start of the season, with multiple appearances in the U21 squad already under his belt. As with, apparently, his involvement over the appointment of Matt Bloomfield, the influence of new Sporting Director and former barsider Dmitri Halajko in this decision cannot be overlooked. As Jayden said in an interview “I left West Ham in the summer, looking for a new challenge and a new opportunity, and the move to Colchester arose with Dmitri being my old coach. It was a no-brainer to come here”.
Welcome Jayden!
Stat attack
I guess you could say our record against Harrogate is exceptional, having won outright 75% of all matches against the Sulphurites. There’s a perfect example of lies, damned lies and statistics, given Harrogate Town are the new kids on the block and we’ve actually only played them four times so far.
Our first encounter almost exactly two years ago and covered under Letters from Wiltshire #11, was a 2-1 victory for Steve Ball’s U’s, with Harrogate getting their revenge in a 3-0 reversal at Wetherby Road the following March, the U’s managed by Wayne Brown by then. Last season was one of our rare doubles, with new manager Hayden Mullins victorious at home in October with a 1-0 win, and Wayne Brown (again) repeating the act in April with a 2-1 win at Wetherby Road. Today will be the fifth encounter, with to date, four different U’s managers in charge.
Incidentally, that last game was the first between the two sides played in front of supporters, the previous three all being during lockdown. 1,615 turned up to Wetherby Road for that game, one hopes we should see at least double that this afternoon for what sadly is already being billed as a relegation six-pointer. The sooner we can pull away from the danger zone and quit even using that expression the better.
Match of the Day
Colchester United v Exeter City
Saturday 26th March 2011
Npower Football League One (Tier 3)
Attendance 3,629
Although today’s Match of the Day is another from the memorabilia random match generator, in this instance it’s a game that ultimately I couldn’t be at. I certainly planned to be, not least because this game had been billed as “Exiles Day” by the club, I think the first time they’d held one? Hence, although my calendar entry proudly proclaimed the event and the possibility of a trip home to see my Mum, events transpired to thwart me unfortunately.
Firstly, kick-off was brought forward to 1pm to avoid clashing with England’s Euro 2012 qualifying game at Wales later that afternoon. An irritation, but not necessarily a deal-breaker, just meant an earlier start than usual (although pity those Grecians travelling from Devon). However, the death knell was the NHS, with Em landing an early shift that day, leaving me at home as the house husband.
At the tail end of a season which had seen the U’s under manager John Ward in and around the play-offs for the first half, only to fall away following a dreadful run of form post-Xmas, although reaching the play-offs was still a mathematical possibility, that’s really all it was. This was John’s first season in charge following the summer departure of Aidy Boothroyd to Coventry, and given it coincided with Robbie Cowling tightening the purse strings after three seasons of an unsuccessful spend spend spend approach, John hadn’t done too bad I guess.
John Ward’s U’s lined up for the early kick-off that afternoon as follows:
1….Ben Williams
6….Nathan Clarke
20..Brian Wilson
28..Matt Heath
10..Kemi Izzet (captain) (26. Lloyd James 75’)
14..Andy Bond
17..David Perkins
24..Ben Coker
7….Ashley Vincent (16. Ian Henderson 87’)
18..Steven Gillespie
19..David Mooney
The big name in the Exeter side was obviously the return of Jamie Cureton for (I think?) his first game against Colchester since departing in 2007 for Norwich City under somewhat controversial circumstances. In an interview with the Gazette leading up to the game, Cureton admitted “I have massive regrets over the way I left Colchester. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and I know the fans weren’t happy with the way things were dealt with when I left” — though he went on to refute allegations he was a money-grabber. He also mentioned that when manager of the U’s, Paul Lambert tried twice, unsuccessfully, to bring Cureton back on loan. The other significant name involved with Exeter back then was of course manager (and one day to be U’s advisor) Paul Tisdale.
Exeter City still had a half-decent chance of making the play-offs, and certainly started the game the brighter of the two as a result. After plenty of early pressure, the Grecians eased into the lead just after 20 minutes. A Steve Tully long throw was flicked on by John O’Flynn to Daniel Nardiello at the far post, who easily took his chance with U’s ‘keeper Ben Williams stranded.
If nothing else, this did at least force the U’s to raise their game, and within ten minutes we were level. A Matt Heath header looked to be going wide, until that is Steve Gillespie managed to get on the end to divert it into the net. A proper goal-scorers poach, something Gillespie was always good at…when he wasn’t on the treatment table that is.
With the game evenly balanced, the crowd waited for the next decisive moment to see which way the pendulum would swing. They didn’t have to wait long, when just five minutes later Steve Tully brought down Ashley Vincent as he raced through clear on goal. It was outside the penalty area, but referee Karl Evans had no hesitation in showing a straight red card. Tisdale shuffled the Exeter line-up around and managed to hold out until half-time with the game still at 1-1.
For the start of the second half, Tisdale sacrificed the goal-scoring threat of Nardiello for the defensive qualities of left back Billy Jones, and on 66 minutes tightened things up even more, subbing Jamie Cureton for midfielder Bertie Cozic. For nearly half an hour of the second half his defensive approach seemed to be working too. Exeter, with virtually no attacking intent whatsoever, grimly held on keeping out wave after wave of U’s attacks. Finally though, the dam was breached, in a virtual carbon copy of the Steve Tully dismissal.
Again it was Ashley Vincent, again he was cutting through the Exeter City defence like a hot knife through butter, and again he was hauled back by an Exeter City defender. Only this time, it was Scott Golbourne, and Ashley was already in the penalty area. Another easy decision for referee Karl Evans, only this time the red card came with the double jeopardy bonus of a penalty. David Mooney stepped up to make no mistake from the spot and give the U’s a well-deserved 2-1 lead.
And that really was that, down to nine men, and with virtually no goal-scoring threat left on the pitch, Exeter City just fell apart. Finally getting the goal his performance deserved, just three minutes later Ashley Vincent raced onto a long ball from Brian Wilson to deftly lob onrushing ‘keeper Ben Hamer. Just a minute later it was 4-1, as Gillespie grabbed his second of the day driving home an Andy Bond square pass.
That it took all of nine more minutes for the U’s to get their fifth was the only surprise. A shot from David Mooney came back off the post with Hamer beaten, and there was Andy Bond to slice home the rebound with the outside of his boot, to send the faithful mental in celebration. With Exeter City dead and buried, manager John Ward gave man of the match Ashley Vincent the ovation he deserved, subbing him for Ian Henderson with a few minutes to go, as the U’s romped home to victory.
Colchester United 5 (Steve Gillespie 31’, 77’; David Mooney 73’p; Ashley Vincent 76’; Andy Bond 86’) Exeter City 1 (Daniel Nardiello 21’)
Later that afternoon, England would comfortably win 2-0 in Wales, with goals from Frank Lampard and Darren Bent, on the way to qualifying as winner of Group G — the only home nation to get through the qualifiers. Ironically, the 2012 Euro competition was co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine, with England bowing out 2-4 in a quarter-final penalty shoot-out after drawing 0-0 with Italy after extra time.
Although the Exeter result was our biggest victory since the Norwich City 7-1, and our second win on the bounce in March, it would still need a miracle to make the play-offs. Needless to say, winning only two of the remaining seven league games dashed any hope of that miracle, with the U’s finishing the season in 10th place, nine points off the play-offs.
Exeter City finished closer, in 8th place and only one point outside the play-offs — undoubtedly the 5-1 thrashing playing a major part in that outcome. Incidentally, of the top six it’s worth noting that champions Brighton & Hove Albion, second place Southampton and sixth place Bournemouth all now compete in the Premier League — and Bournemouth didn’t even win the play-offs in 2011, that was down to Peterborough United.
Up the U’s!
Blog credits:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%9311_Colchester_United_F.C._season
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%9311_Football_League
https://www.cu-fc.com/news/2022/october/fevrier-signs-for-u21s/
https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/sport/8935218.five-star-us-thrash-nine-man-exeter
https://www.coludata.co.uk/match/1022/3542?sort=sdate&order=asc&fsea=all
https://www.theweek.co.uk/daily-briefing#1
[Post edited 8 Oct 2022 15:57]
|  |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
