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We currently have 23 members, when 32 would be ideal for a knockout competition. There is no mathmatical way to get the numbers down to 16 for the 2nd Round. I have decided the fairest way (rather than have byes) is to get the number down to 8 for the quarter-finals instead. This will be done by having 10 games of 2, and 1 game of 3, with the two highest scorers going through, in the 1st Round. This will give us 12 members for the 2nd Round, where there will be 4 games of 3 with the two highest scorers going through to the quarter-finals.
There will be replays for drawn games. The tie-breaker rule will only apply for any replays. Each round will take place at the same time as the FA Cup, and will contain 10 fixtures from that competition. Any replays will be 10 matches from the following Saturday's League programme. FA Cup replays will be scrapped from the first round onwards in the 2026/27 competition. All games will be settled on 90 minute result.
There will be fresh draw for each round, and here is the draw for the 1st Round, made by Mrs mfb.
noah4x4 v Tropical_Us
thread v NME_cufc
bwildered v ghughes11
RSCOSWORTH v concordman
blueeagle v basher2010
Lewis_1 v Blue4U2
Sector4 v unitedwhites
Daniel v thrillseeker
BFG v Titters
Jorash63 v mfb_cufc
gerry_us v wessex_exile v oxfcolu (2 to go through)
1st Round Fixtures All games kick-off at 15.00. If any matches are postponed, then games will be settled on the matches remaining. No more than four predictions the same as your opponents please.
ACCRINGTON STANLEY v WYCOMBE WANDERERS BOREHAM WOOD v WIGAN ATHLETIC BRISTOL ROVERS v CAMBRIDGE UNITED BROMLEY v ROTHERHAM UNITED CARLISLE UNITED v SALFORD CITY COLCHESTER UNITED v WORCESTER CITY CREWE ALEXANDRA v AFC WIMBLEDON EASTLEIGH v SHREWSBURY TOWN HORNCHURCH v BLACKPOOL MILTON KEYNES DONS v SWINDON TOWN
ARSENAL 2 EVERTON 0 Defenders Ezri Konsa and Gabriel Magalhaes scored the goals to lift Arsenal to 21 points, and join City at the top of the Premier League table. Everyone predicted a win for Arsenal, with a ginormous 14 getting it spot-on, in what was the weeks most predicted score.
COVENTRY CITY 0 FULHAM 1 Oscar Bobb's late goal made it back-to-back Premier League wins for Fulham. Nobody had this spot-on, but 6 did get the outcome.
LINCOLN CITY 4 BURNLEY 1 Lincoln came from behind to thrash hapless Burnley and pile the pressure on Clarets head coach Nicky Hayen. Nobody got this spot-on, though 9 did have the outcome.
WEST HAM UNITED 2 SOUTHAMPTON 3 Impressive Southampton edge a five goal thriller. No points for anyone from this game, with 20 predicting a win for West Ham, and the other 3 going for a 1-1.
BROMLEY 1 PETERBOROUGH UNITED 1 Bromley could not kick off the post-Andy Woodman era with a win as Vernon Masara's 93rd minute leveller secured Peterborough a point. Only blueeagle and Blue4U2 got this spot-on, and only NME_cufc had the outcome. 18 predicted a win for Peterborough.
Highlights when available
ROTHERHAM UNITED 3 SHREWSBURY TOWN 3 Super-sub Tom Bradshaw earned Rotherham a vital point in League Two following this draw with in-form Shrewsbury, who had earlier overturned an early two-goal deficit to lead in game in which both teams ended with 10 men. A final game this week with no 3 pointer, but 4 did get the outcome.
Another unpredictable week to join the many we have had so far this season. With four games failing to have a 3 pointer, it was left to Arsenal's 2-0 win to stop this week from being an almost total wipeout. In fact that Arsenal victory produced 51 of the weeks 77 total points. With the two members who got the Bromley 1-1 spot-on not having the Arsenal 2-0, the weeks 16 total 3 pointers were shared out, and Blue4U2 was the only one of the 16 to have got three outcomes, to make him the weeks top scorer with a decent 6 points. One interesting stat from this weeks games is Lincoln's 4-1 win was the fifth time for that score this season. Making it as good as a 1-0 or 2-0, who are both on that same score for the season. Top result remains the 1-1 with 11, two ahead of the 0-1.
Happy Cup Details for the 1st Round of this competition will be out tomorrow (Sunday).
In the Premier Just the Arsenal 2-0 spot-on for RSCOSWORTH this week, but his lead is only reduced by a point as blueeagle could only get the Arsenal outcome to go with the Bromley 1-1 spot-on. Having the Arsenal 2-0 spot-on moves both mfb_cufc and ghughes11 up a place to third and fourth. One outcome for basher2010, and he drops two. The Arsenal 2-0 spot-on also for Jorash63, thrillseeker, bwildered and Sector4, but it is status quo for all four. The bottom three also remains the same, but by getting the Arsenal win spot-on, noah4x4 did move up a couple of places.
In Division One With the top two both having the Arsenal 2-0 spot-on, there is no change, as gerry_us remains ahead of Lewis_1 on the most 3 pointer rule. The top scoring performance from Blue4U2 moves him up a place to a season high third. One outcome for Daniel as he drops a place to fourth. Having the Arsenal win spot-on moved both wessex_exile and Tropical_Us up a place to fifth and sixth. One outcome for thread, means he drops two. Status quo for Titters although he got the Arsenal 2-0 spot-on. The final one to have that Arsenal win spot-on was unitedwhites, and it was enough to take him off the bottom, as he moved up a couple of places.
THE TABLES (78 out of 280 played) (Tie-breaker: Most 3 pointers, and then the first to post)
Week 12 Fixtures 10 games from the tricky League 2 picked by this weeks guest noah4x4. Don't forget it is an early start with deadline 12.30
GRIMSBY TOWN v YORK CITY (12.30) PORT VALE v ROCHDALE (12.30) ACCRINGTON STANLEY v NORTHAMPTON TOWN CREWE ALEXANDRA v BARNET FLEETWOOD TOWN v BRISTOL ROVERS OLDHAM ATHLETIC v CRAWLEY TOWN SALFORD CITY v EXETER CITY SHREWSBURY TOWN v GILLINGHAM SWINDON TOWN v ROTHERHAM UNITED TRANMERE ROVERS v CHELTENHAM TOWN
After the dismal display at Newport, dare I say it, the U’s seem to have turned a corner, with very credible draws ground out against a very resolute drilled defensive display from Exeter, and arguably our best performance of the season so far at high-flying Chesterfield. I’m not making a connection here, but both games were without two of our key first teamers in Jack Payne and Harry Anderson. I have no knowledge of the extent of their injuries, but in the absence of anything obviously traumatic happening on the pitch, I hope they are just knocks and niggles – we’ll need them back before too long.
Their absence has given the opportunity for others to force themselves into Danny’s thinking, and by and large they have taken those opportunities. I’m particularly thinking here of Jay Williams and Paul Digby, but Rob Hunt operating further forward was also very effective on Tuesday night. I think we’re also seeing the experiment of playing Oscar in the middle is a thing of the past, showing what he can do from out wide providing a peach of an assist for Ben Perry (in his first league start since his injury) to power home our deserved equaliser at Chesterfield.
Tomorrow’s opponents Northampton Town, as with most of the sides relegated from League 1 last season, have struggled to adapt back to League 2 football. Northampton are in the relegation zone, Rotherham just one point and one place above them, and Port Vale in 20th position, below the U’s on goal difference. I don’t honestly expect any of them to be at risk of relegation at the end of the season, but for now points on the board is going to be the priority. During the week Tranmere took all three points at Sixfields, in a game dominated by Northampton in terms of possession and chances, to give the Superwhites their first away win of the season. Could lightning strike twice at Sixfields for the U’s tomorrow?
Form is temporary… If a pattern is emerging, at least we can say the U’s are starting to prove we’re hard to beat, with five draws in the last six, with only the Newport horror show blemishing that record. Without banging on about it relentlessly, we’re just a decent striker with confidence away from turning those draws into wins. To be fair to Bradley, I thought he had a very good game on Tuesday, and really should have scored in the second half. Even Chiwome, who replaced him with minutes to go, grazed the bar with an effort that could have won the game for the U’s. Good to see Danny back in the thick of the action too…
Played for both Given the relative proximity, it is of no surprise to see that the played for both list is particularly long where Northampton is concerned, no Jamie Cureton this time, but Guy ‘more clubs than Tiger’ Branston is there. Of our current squad, I think only Ben Perry and Bez Lubala have also played for Northampton, and provided he’s recovered from a swollen knee that forced him to miss out Chesterfield, Bez may well feature along with Ben at some point tomorrow.
On the books at Blackpool at the time, Bez was on loan at Northampton for the 2021/22 season, before joining the U’s for his first spell on another loan in 2022/23. Ben Perry’s journey is much more straightforward. On the books at Nottingham Forest, he spent most of the second half of the 2024/25 season on loan at Northampton. I’m not certain whether Northampton had any interest, but in the summer of 2025 the U’s paid an undisclosed fee for Ben, only to then see him miss virtually the entire 2025/26 season through injury.
However, the player I’m going to highlight, and for one very specific reason, is Scott McGleish, a legend at both Colchester and Northampton. For this I go back to Tuesday 20th January 2004 for our EFL Trophy Southern Region semi-final at Sixfields. We were there in numbers, and vocal with it, but the game wasn’t really going our way. This was mainly down to Richard Walker, who put the Cobblers into the lead on 14 minutes, and not helped by Martin Smith giving a youthful Greg Halford at right back an absolute torrid time. So much so that Parky had to sub him just after the half-hour mark, before the Geneva Convention was forced to intercede.
Walker was still a handful though, and giving Northampton a two goal cushion early in the second half, even the faithful were realistically thinking our cup run was probably coming to an end. Scott had other ideas and pulled one back on the hour, and with less than five minutes to go scored the equaliser to take the match into ‘Silver Goal’ extra-time. The U’s were rampant, and in the 96th minute an excellent Rowan Vine cross was met again by the head of Scott McGleish to give the U’s a 3-2 lead. We held on until the end of the first period, which by Silver Goals rules, gave us the victory, and the away end went berserk.
As mentioned, there are plenty of other notable names on the list, including Jason Dozzell, Steve McGavin, and Chuck Norris, but it would be wrong of me not to highlight one of my childhood heroes, John Froggatt.
Head to head To date, we’ve played Northampton Town 69 times in the league (W26, D13, L30) and 12 times in various cup competitions (W4, D1, L7), including that night at Sixfields. However, as I’m making the early trip tomorrow morning, and my personal record is won three and drawn one, let’s hope I can maintain that record of never seeing us lose against the Cobblers.
Games to remember: Other than the EFL Trophy game, probably the most memorable was another in my archive, our 4-0 victory at Sixfields under John McGreal back in February 2019. We even had the luxury of Harry Pell missing a late penalty for a bonus fifth goal. Back in the day we’ve had multiple 4-1 and 5-1 victories, all at Layer Road.
Games to forget: In our inaugural season in Division Three (South) in 1951 Jimmy Allen’s U’s were comprehensively battered 2-5 at Layer Road. There were a number of heavy defeats at the old County Ground over the years, including a 6-1, 5-0, 4-0 and 4-1, but the only time we’ve really been put to the sword at Sixfields was under Steve Whitton in September 2002, when we were soundly beaten 4-1.
Line-up Whether or not Jack or Harry are available, I have a feeling Danny will keep faith with the starting XI from Chesterfield. He’ll want to keep Perry wrapped in cotton wool for as long as possible, but I would expect to see him come on in the second half. Bradley is just a goal or two away from being the striker we know he can be, but again I’d expect to see Chiwome feature as well at some point, and perhaps a bit longer than his brief cameo at the end on Tuesday night.
Substitutes: Chiwome Connolly Harvey Kuffour Perry Raggett Thorn
Another tough game approaches, and it won’t be helped by the weather either. Northampton’s stop-start season so far will eventually settle into some sort of consistency, and it’s probably a tough ask to expect them to lose consecutive home games on the bounce. However, surely we’ve got to start hitting the back of the net from more of the chances we’re creating before too long? My head says another draw will be a good result, but my heart says a 3-1 win for the U’s, with a brace from Bradley.
Weather watch This will be the great equaliser tomorrow, with Storm Boelo scheduled to arrive in force early afternoon, bringing heavy rain and winds from the south-south-west gusting at over 40+ mph and a chilly 9 degrees in the wind. It is of course touch and go whether the game survives the weather, but if it does, it will likely be by virtue of the early 1230 kick-off.
First of all, some good news for me, on 16 October I received an email from Jen Wright who is the Senior Business Development Manager at Hotlizard, she informed me that ‘The full video will be available to watch at midnight after the match has been played (EFL rules) and will cost one credit to view.’ So, with that in mind, I used one of my credits to purchase the stream and hoped that with a return of me watching the ‘Full Match Replay’, it would bring an upturn in the fortunes of The U’s!
Col U lined up in their familiar 4-2-3-1 formation albeit with some personnel changes. The injury curse strikes again with Harry Anderson and Jack Payne both missing from the squad. This moved Digby back into his familiar midfield position alongside Jay Williams (although who would have thought that Digby would be the most advanced on a number of occasions when The U’s advanced forward). Frankie Terry came in at the back next to Tucker and Iandolo and Hunt got the nod at right-back over the returning KVY. Thorn on the right, Lubala on the left with Sesay supporting Ihionvien up top.
“Tough game, probably deserved the win” – Wessex-exile “Looked solid, but unspectacular.” – bewildered “defo need to improve our finishing” – CrashBandicoot ” Vast improvement compared to Newport.” – noah4x4
The above quotes from the U’sual faithful sum up the thoughts of all Col U fans I would imagine. Daniel posted up the Extended Highlights – I wouldn’t bother watching.
So, onto tonight’s (tomorrow morning for some of us) match versus Chesterfield. Known as the Spireites after the town's Crooked Spire, Chesterfield are currently 7th in League Two after a 1-0 loss at Port Vale.
Although 13 places above The U’s in the league, they are only 4 points in front having played a game more as well! Which just goes to show how tight the League 2 table is in the early stages (5pts separate Chesterfield in 7th and Rotherham in 23rd!).
Liam Mandeville is the only current ‘Former U’ that now plays for Chesterfield. Signed by John McGreal on loan from Doncaster Rovers in the 2017-2018 season, Mandeville played 7 (1 start and 6 as sub) for The U’s. I clearly remember McGreal beating on about Mandeville being a 1 in 3 goalscorer at this level – so maybe 2 more starts for him would have seen him score at least 1 goal for us instead of the 0, in an uneventful season for Col U! There are 30 people in total that have played for both. Take a peek at Col U data for more info.
Talking of the Col U Data website, it tells me that Col U and Chesterfield have played each other 66 times (38 Tier 3, 26 Tier 4, 2 FA Cup) with Col U winning 28 times to Chesterfield’s 20.
One of those defeats came at Chesterfield’s old stadium (Saltergate) on Saturday 9 January 1999. As a young, just turned 15 year-old, I cannot remember too much of the match itself, but what I do remember is hearing my mate telling another teenager before the match that he will score that day, and low and behold after being introduced to the faithful in the 71st minute, an eighteen-year-old Lomana Trésor Lua-Lua duly obliged to score in the 75th! It turned out to be only a consolation goal in a 3-1 defeat. However, a star was born!
Boy, could we do with Lua-Lua starting tonight’s match! Without him though, it is up to a forever-young Jack Payne to return from injury and into his rightful Number 10 position and fire The U’s to a first away victory this season! Let’s go for:
GK: Lo-Tutala RB: Hunt CB: Tucker CB: Terry LB: Iandolo RM: Sesay CM: Jay Williams CM: Digby LM: Lubala AM: Payne ST: Ihionvien
Subs: Roberts, KVY, Kuffour, Perry, Thorn, Harvey, Jaden Williams (back from suspension)
However, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Digby drop back into a 5 across the back and Payne back in alongside Jay Williams in a 5-4-1.
Score Prediction: A very optimistic 0-1 win with a Payne penalty stealing the points for The U’s!
Safe journey to all those going or already up there
Others here know Chesterfield better than me, but for me it's a case of whatever was there. The entrance to the town centre car park and toilets used to have a number of world war one poem's on the walls, which took me back to learning them for English language o-level .Chesterfield has allegedly the largest market in England. Whether that's by stalls or size I am not sure , Newark comes close for size and neither come close to Arras. My first recollection of Chesterfield was coming out of their town hall one evening having tractor see the late great Hal Ketchum (Past the point of rescue and Small town Saturday night) to find two kids boxing in the car park, each with just one glove on.
Last year's memory was s 4-0 defeat where we hoofed the ball out of defence to nobody.
Numbers have been confirmed for the first round FA Cup draw. The U’s allocated ball number 13. Strangely no representation of any Essex non league team. It’s time for a up for the cup run has ball no 77 does not represent are Essex Trophy holders, but their victors Berkhampsted. Nearest local side would be Hornchurch, but several sides we have been drawn with previously being Oxford City, Dover, Rushden . A live televised game would invariably mean a tricky away fixture or Leicester .
BIRMINGHAM CITY 3 QUEENS PARK RANGERS 0 Birmingham made it five games unbeaten in the Championship with this impressive win. Nobody got this spot-on, but 18 did have the outcome, with 12 going for a 2-1 in what was the weeks most predicted score.
DERBY COUNTY 0 STOKE CITY 1 Luke Graham's first Stoke goal reinforced their place in the play-off positions and deepened Derby's gloom. 3 had this spot-on, and a further 9 got the outcome.
BARNSLEY 1 CAMBRIDGE UNITED 2 Cambridge's unbeaten away record in League One continued as they came from behind to win with a 91st minute goal. A magnificent 7 got this spot-on, and another 4 had the outcome.
Highlights when available
LEICESTER CITY 2 DONCASTER ROVERS 1 John Lundstram and Kamari Doyle secured a Leicester win to ease the pressure on under-fire Russell Martin. A sublime 5 had this spot-on, and a further 10 got the outcome.
OLDHAM ATHLETIC 4 CHELTENHAM TOWN 1 Oldham halted their worrying slide down the table by thrashing Cheltenham for their first victory in seven league games. Nobody got this spot-on, though 10 did have the outcome.
Highlights when available
SWINDON TOWN 1 WALSALL 1 Tai Sodje's equaliser maintained Walsall's unbeaten record in League One as they drew with a much-improved Swindon. A great 8 had this spot-on, and one more got the outcome.
Despite two games failing to have a 3 pointer, the other four made up for it in a big way, to give us a decent 23 spot-ons in total, and the best 6 game week of the season so far. Those 3 pointers were well spread out, with only six members failing to get one. Six members did well did get two 3 pointers, with the best coming from Daniel, who had the Cambridge 2-1 and the Swindon 1-1, and by also getting three outcomes, he is this weeks top scorer with an excellent 9 points. Next best were RSCOSWORTH, who got the Leicester 2-1 and the Swindon 1-1, and blueeagle, who had the Stoke 1-0 and the Swindon 1-1. They each also got two outcomes, to give them both a decent 8 points. Finally basher2010, who had the wins for Stoke and Leicester, Lewis_1, who got the Cambridge 2-1 and the Swindon 1-1, and Blue4U2, who got the Leicester 2-1 and the Swindon 1-1. They each also had one outcome, to give them all a decent 7 points. Best of those who had one outcome was mfb_cufc, who got the Leicester 2-1, and four outcomes, to give him a useful 7 points. The seasons 72 games have finished with 30 (41.67%) home wins, 18 (25.00%) away wins, and 24 (33.33%) draws. The figure for homes is at historical levels, but the aways and draws are the reverse to where they should be. Not good news for those who don't back games to end level. The top result so far is the 1-1 with 10, followed by the 0-0 and the 0-1 with 8, and they are one ahead of the 2-1 and the 1-2.
In the Premier The decent week for RSCOSWORTH has enabled him to increase his lead to a very healthy 12 points. That is now from blueeagle, whose own decent week moved him up another three places, and into that other DEMS spot. The decent weeks for basher2010 and mfb_cufc couldn't stop them dropping a place to third and fourth. A good five outcomes for ghughes11, but he also drops a place to fifth. A 3 pointer each for Jorash63, the Cambridge 2-1, thrillseeker, the Stoke 1-0, and bwildered, the Swindon 1-1, as it is status quo for all three. One outcome for Sector4 was enough to keep him out of the bottom three, that remains the same for the third week running, though concordman did move up a place after having the Cambridge 2-1 spot-on.
In Division One Having the Cambridge 2-1 spot-on enabled gerry_us to stay top for the fifth week in a row, but it only on the most 3 pointer rule from Lewis_1, who closed right up after another decent week. The top scoring performance from Daniel moved him a bit closer to the automatics in third. The decent week for Blue4U2 keeps him fourth, and a solid week for thread that included getting the Swindon 1-1 spot-on, keeps him fifth. After one week away wessex_exile moved back into the final play-off place again, after having the Cambridge 2-1 spot-on. Also moving up a place is Tropical_Us, thanks to getting the Swindon 1-1 spot-on. Three outcomes for Titters as he drops two places. The bottom three remains unchanged, but oxfcolu with the Cambridge 2-1, and unitedwhites with Leicester 2-1 both had a 3 pointer.
THE TABLES (72 out of 280 played) (Tie-breaker: Most 3 pointers, and then the first to post)
Week 11 Fixtures
ARSENAL v EVERTON COVENTRY CITY v FULHAM LINCOLN CITY v BURNLEY WEST HAM UNITED v SOUTHAMPTON BROMLEY v PETERBOROUGH UNITED ROTHERHAM UNITED v SHREWSBURY TOWN
Well that’s what he hope anyway, but the way things are going at the moment, that might be less than expectation. I wish there was some sort of positive spin I could put on the trip to Newport last weekend, but it was just poor. The football lacked any quality (on both sides), the ref blew for absolutely everything (apart from Hunt’s desperate attempt to haul down Matty Jacobs to prevent their goal), and the popped up U’s kids were just embarrassing. My high point – had a lovely afternoon with Alfie, the Newport stewards (and the police) were as first rate as ever, in spite of some severe provocation at times, and the chips were excellent.
Whilst we were in Newport purgatory, tomorrow’s opponents Exeter City were doing what we failed to do, holding on to a lead at Shrewsbury, albeit their goal came just four minutes from the end of normal time. That win moved them up to mid-table, but given how early in the season we are, still only two points ahead of the U’s.
Form is temporary… This time last season, after nine games we were 20th with eight points, so from a glass half-full perspective you could say 19th and ten points is ahead of last season’s curve? It just doesn’t really feel like it right now, but 3pts on Saturday will no doubt brighten everyone’s outlook. Moses Sesay ‘tops’ the goal scoring on three goals, Harry with two and a bunch of others on one goal. Therein is the problem, Moses and Harry are midfielders, it’s the men up front who are struggling to make an impression.
Played for both Considering we’re on virtually the opposite sides of the country, the number of players who made the journey (directly or indirectly) is actually quite impressive. As I mentioned in my previous preview, that inevitably includes Jamie Cureton, but it also includes Matt Jay. I remember the buzz amongst supporters when Matt Bloomfield signed him in January 2023. Matt Jay had always been a thorn in our side when he played against us, and he seemed a real coup.
The signs were there though, on Grecian forums – despite his folk hero status, and many sorry to see him go, no one was really surprised given his first team opportunities at League 1 Exeter were few and far between. A drop down to League 2 could have been just what his career needed. Sadly though, it didn’t really work out here either, and after 39 appearances spanning three seasons (and just one goal scored), we agreed to part company, and Matt Jay returned to the West Country at Torquay United, where he combines playing for the first team and recently appointed as Head of Youth.
There are loads of others, so recollections/ recommendations gladly received.
Head to head To date, we’ve played Exeter City 80 times in the League (W26, D22, L32), five times in various cup competitions (W2, D1, L2), and twice in the play-offs (W1, L1) – obviously the latter were the home and away legs of the 2020 Covid play-offs. We hold the unenviable record of being the first team to go out of the FA Cup without conceding a goal, after 0-0 draws home and away in the 1991 FA Cup 1st Round and then losing the newly introduced penalty shoot-out 2-4.
Games to remember: A 5-1 victory at St James Park back in 1985 under Cyril Lea, a 4-0 victory under Jock Wallace at Layer Road as we flirted with relegation to the conference in 1989, and of course John Ward’s 5-1 demolition of a very poor Grecian outfit in 2011. Games best forgotten: the aforementioned Cyril Lea’s in 1984 losing 3-4 at Layer Road, a 0-5 battering at St James Park for Jimmy Allen back in 1951, and a few other matches down there where we’ve conceded four, but nothing compares to the 1-6 defeat for Steve Ball’s U’s back in 2020 during lockdown (Matt Jay scored a brace).
Line-up So in addition to Newport County, we now also know that Kouassi is out for quite a while. I must admit, starting with no recognised strikers on the pitch at Newport was somewhat baffling, and given the performance, hopefully an experiment we won’t see again. With no criticism of Oscar, we did marginally improve once Bradley replaced him, so fingers-crossed we stick with that tomorrow. We can’t not start Moses, you just never know whether you’re going to get dribbling wizardry or wizardly dribbles served up – and often both in the same game.
Substitutes: Smith Chiwome Harvey Kuffour Thorn Roberts Terry
Another tough game looms, and with following fixtures away at Chesterfield and Northampton, and then home to Walsall, now id definitely the time to get three points on the board. By the end of the month, we could be firmly in the play-off promotion hunt…or potentially in a lot of trouble – fingers crossed. Tomorrow will be tight, but I have to believe we can get the result – 2-1 to the U’s with Bradley to get us off the mark.
Weather watch There’ll probably be some rain about before kick-off, but that should have dried up by 3pm. It’ll be patchy cloud for the game, about 13-14 degrees and with a moderate breeze from the north, hopefully helping our attack towards the south stand.
Colchester United have progressed in the Essex Senior Cup, beating Maldon & Tiptree 2-0 at the JobServe Community Stadium: https://www.cu-fc.com/news/202
'First half goals from Leon Chiwome and Jaden Williams gave them the two goal lead at half time, a lead that they never really looked like relinquishing.
Ben Perry got another sixty minutes of action as he returns from his knee injury, whilst Frankie Terry, Jaden Williams, Adrian Akande and Leon Chiwome were all involved.'
ASTON VILLA 2 BRENTFORD 2 Brentford maintained their unbeaten start as they came from behind to earn a point and end Villa's hopes of a first Premier League home win this season. Well done to Lewis_1 for being the only one to get this spot-on, and another 9 had the outcome.
CHELSEA 5 AFC BOURNEMOUTH 1 Jordan Henderson scored his first Chelsea goals to help his new side to a dominant victory. Nobody had this spot-on, but 19 did get the outcome, with 10 going for a 2-0 in what was the weeks most predicted score.
IPSWICH TOWN 2 FULHAM 1 Ipswich scored two late goals in the 88th and 91st minutes to secure a dramatic victory and leave Alvaro Arbeloa still searching for his first win as Fulham boss. 4 got this spot-on, and a further 6 had the outcome.
CHARLTON ATHLETIC 1 BRISTOL CITY 1 Scott Twine slotted home from the penalty spot to earn City a draw against Charlton and extend the Addicks' winless run to six games. 4 had this spot-on, and 1 more got the outcome.
BLACKBURN ROVERS 2 CARDIFF CITY 1 Andri Gudjohnsen and Todd Cantwell's first-half goals punished Cardiff as Blackburn marked the return of Championship action with a home victory. A massive 9 got this spot-on, and another 6 had the outcome.
PRESTON NORTH END 0 MILLWALL 1 Camiel Neghli ruined Graham Alexander's Deepdale homecoming with a late winner as Millwall claimed a first victory in four Championship games. A super 6 had this spot-on, and a further 10 got the outcome.
BRADFORD CITY 0 LEYTON ORIENT 0 Michael Duff had to settle for a bore draw in his first league game as Bradford manager, with Orient having the only shot on target in the game. Nobody got this spot-on, and only unitedwhites had the outcome. 21 predicted a win for Bradford.
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 2 SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 2 Wednesday mounted a dramatic late comeback with goals in the 88th and 98th minutes to snatch a draw. 4 had this spot-on, and another 3 got the outcome.
Highlights when available.
CRAWLEY TOWN 2 CHESTERFIELD 2 Two second-half goals from substitute Gianmarco Di Biase gave struggling Crawley their first home point of the season as they came from 2-0 down to draw. Nobody got this spot-on, and only thread and unitedwhites had the outcome. 17 predicted a win for Chesterfield.
Highlights when available.
YORK CITY 1 NORTHAMPTON TOWN 1 Ollie Pearce's late equaliser rescued a point for York in this draw but they missed out on matching a club record, as they were hoping to rack up a 14th straight home league win to take their place in the record books alongside the club's class of 1964/65. Only thread and Blue4U2 had this spot-on, and only oxfcolu got the outcome. 18 predicted a win for York.
By nature it is the 10 game weeks that have the biggest influence on a season, and this one didn't disappoint. It produced a bit of everything, with a number of late goals changing the complexion of games, some good things winning, some shocks, and three 2-2 draws for the first time in a week. It all added up to a very decent 30 spot-ons in total, givig us the second best week of the season so far. Those 3 pointers helped to give some outstnding performances, especially from blueeagle, as he was the only one to get four of them, the wins for Ipswich, Blackburn and Millwall and the Charlton 1-1. He also had the Chelsea outcome, to give him a fantastic 13 points. Though it was only enough to give him a share of being the weeks top scorer, as Lewis_1 also got a fantastic 13 points by having the draws at Villa, Charlton and Huddersfield spot-on, and four outcomes. Also doing well to get three 3 pointers was gerry_us, who had the wins for Ipswich and Blackburn and the Huddersfield 2-2, and two outcomes, to give him a brilliant 11 points. Best of the six to have two 3 pointers were basher2010, who got the wins for Ipswich and Millwall, and thread, who had the draws at Charlton and York. They each also had three outcomes, to give them both an excellent 9 points.
In the Premier Another good week for this division, with only one member failing to get a 3 pointer. Having the Blackburn 2-1 spot-on helped RSCOSWORTH to maintain the 11 point lead he had last week. It is now from basher2010, as his excellent week moved him up three places to the DEMS spot. After getting the wins for Blackburn and Millwall spot-on, mfb_cufc remains third, but it only the first to post rule from ghughes11, who had the Blackburn 2-1 spot-on, and blueeagle, whose top scoring performance moved him up four places. It is status quo in sixth for Jorash63 despite his decent week, when he got the Charlton 1-1 and the Millwall 1-0 spot-on. A decent week for thrillseeker, where he had the wins for Blackburn and Millwall spot-on, moved him up a place to seventh. Despite getting the Ipswich 2-1 spot-on, Sector4 drops two places. A 3 pointer for all the bottom three, BFG the Millwall 1-0, and noah4x4 and concordman the Blackburn 2-1, but the gap to safety increases by a couple of points.
In Division One The brilliant week for gerry_us takes his run at the top to four weeks. After Week 5 Lewis_1 was bottom and still waiting for his first 3 pointer, but after getting 8 spot-ons and 33 points in the last 4 weeks, he has now moved up to the other automatic spot. Those wonderful performances from the top two have now created a 7 point gap back to the third Daniel, who moved up a place after getting the Blackburn 2-1 spot-on. The decent week for Blue4U2, after he had the draws at Huddersfield and York spot-on, moved him up four places to fourth. The excellent week for thread moved him up a good five places to fifth. Having the Huddersfield 2-2 spot-on moved Titters up a place into the final play-off spot.
THE TABLES (66 out of 280 played) (Tie-breaker: Most 3 pointers, and then the first to post)
Week 10 Fixtures
BIRMINGHAM CITY v QUEENS PARK RANGERS DERBY COUNTY v STOKE CITY BARNSLEY v CAMBRIDGE UNITED LEICESTER CITY v DONCASTER ROVERS OLDHAM ATHLETIC v CHELTENHAM TOWN SWINDON TOWN v WALSALL
Moves too raise the horizontal pole in United Way by the shuttle bus turning circle, has concerns raised in accessing the ground after match where motorists are unable at present to turn right from the car park into Boxted straightroad, which would ease congestion, with at present left only being available in leaving the site.
It comes as a motion will be proposed at a full council meeting, next week, to introduce a six-game trial to lift the barrier at Boxted Road following matches. A trail period up to Christmas would mean pole lifted for a hour after match to ease further congestion . Obviously the local councillor objects to the proposal, highlighting traffic congestion in the surrounding Chesterwood area .
It is two weeks since our last league game away to Shrewsbury, when in the end we got a credible draw, but it was another game when we failed to win after scoring first. This has become a bad trend of the season so far, as this is the fifth time this has happened, giving up 11 points from that winning position. Danny Cowley has emphasised how important it is to get that first goal in games, so he will be disappointed we have only managed to go on and win once against Rochdale, when incidently that was the only time we have kept a clean sheet. That is the obvious problem, the defence, and we need to get back to the 2024/25 season when we had 21 clean sheets. Equally the most in League Two that season. After getting 7 points from the first 3 games this season, we have now gone 5 games without a win, or if your glass is half full, we are currently 3 games undefeated.
On 20 November 2025, Christian Fuchs was appointed manager of Newport, with them bottom of the table on 11 points after 16 matches. After starting with eight consecutive matches without a win, things were looking desperate. But a better second-half to the season, cumulated in them winning the final game of the season to stay up. The great escape had been achieved. Fuchs unexpectedly resigned as Newport manager just days before players were due to return to pre-season training, stating "he didn't have a lot to give". This was a shock, and another was to follow - well certainly to Colchester fans - when the new manager was to be Hayden Mullins. Newport started the season with a bang by beating recently promoted Rochdale 3-0 on the first day, but they have only won once in 8 league games since. Though a half full glass will show they are currently undefeated in their last 4. Overall they have a very similar record to us, with both having won 2 and drawn 2 at home, and both only managing 2 draws away, and losing on all their other visits.
Newport, a brief history Formed in 1912, they were originally nicknamed The Ironsides due to Newport being home to Lysaght's Orb Works steel works. The club began life in the Southern League before being invited to become founder members of the Football League Third Division in 1920. They failed re-election in 1931, but were elected back into the Football League the next year. They struggled for the next few seasons, but went on to be crowned Third Division South champions in 1938–39. World War II meant they had to wait until the 1946–47 season to take their place in the Second Division, though they were relegated at the end of the campaign. They were relegated out of the Third Division in 1962. In the 1979–80 season, under manager Len Ashurst, they secured promotion out of the Fourth Division and won the Welsh Cup for the first time. They reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winner's Cup the next year. In the 1980s they suffered financial difficulties with a double relegation costing them their Football League place in 1988 and the club went out of business in February 1989.
The club reformed but were initially unable to play at their home ground at Somerton Park, so picked up the nickname of the "Exiles". They immediately won the Hellenic League in 1989–90 and were promoted out of the Southern League Midland Division in 1994–95. While playing at Newport Stadium, they were relegated from the Premier Division in 1997, before winning promotion out of the Midland Division again in 1998–99. Placed in the Conference South in 2004, they went on to be crowned champions in 2009–10 and after moving to Rodney Parade in 2012, they returned to the Football League following a 25-year absence after winning the Conference National play-off final in 2013 under manager Justin Edinburgh.
Head to head We have only played each other 18 times. We have a pretty good record against Newport, winning 9 drawing 4 and losing the other 5.
They played for both Quite a list, but one or two are a bit tenuous, as they never made a league appearance for both teams.
Frank Nouble: The experienced forward originally joined Newport for the 2017–18 season, scoring a memorable 13-minute hat-trick against Chesterfield. He moved to Colchester in 2018, where he became a fan favorite across multiple spells. Ryan Jackson: The pacey right-back played for Newport from 2013 to 2015 before later spending three seasons with Colchester between 2017 and 2020. Alex Gilbey: A product of the Colchester academy, Gilbey captained their youth side and made over 100 senior appearances for the U's. During his early development, he was loaned to Newport in 2013, playing a key role in their historic Conference Premier play-off final victory over Wrexham. Ryan Inniss: The commanding center-back spent the 2017–18 season on loan at Colchester, making 19 appearances, before later joining Newport for the 2019–20 campaign. Courtney Senior: The winger made 145 appearances for Colchester after joining them in 2017. Upon his release in 2021, he signed directly with Newport. Shawn McCoulsky: Featured on loan for Newport during their 2017–18 season (scoring 11 goals) and later signed a permanent deal with Colchester in 2021. Michael Spellman: The winger was named the Exiles' supporters' player of the season during a two-year stint with Newport. He spent time at Colchester ahead of the 2026/27 season, but only as a trialist. He featured in some of their pre-season friendly matches (such as a game against Peterborough United in July 2026), but the club did not sign him to a permanent contract. Shortly after his trial, he joined Gateshead. Tommy O'Sullivan: The Welsh youth international midfielder had a loan spell at Newport in 2015 and later signed permanently for Colchester in 2017. Luke Gambin: Joined Newport on loan for the second half of the 2020/21 season. Played for Colchester from 2019 to 2021 before his loan switch. Jake Turner: Current Newport goalkeeper.Previously spent a period on loan with Colchester in the 2021/22 season. Steve Maedenborough:Played for Newport early in his career during the mid-1980's. Had a brief spell with Colchester later in 1994. Owura Edwards: Began his youth development in Newport's academy. Spent three seasons with Colchester, initially on loan in 2022, then permantly from 2023 to 2026.
Notable Non-playing Cross-overs
Hayden Mullins: He took charge of Colchester as head coach between 2021 and 2022, overseeing 40 games. In July 2026, he was officially appointed as the new first-team manager of Newport. Joe Dunne: He is a legendary figure at Colchester, where he played over 160 games and served as the club's first-team manager between 2012 and 2014. He later worked at Newport, serving as assistant manager alongside Graham Coughlan from October 2022 until June 2024.
Predictions Danny said in Monday's Gazette a number of players had been suffering from tendonitis, due to playing and training on hard pitches. This was why they were rested from the squad that played Luton. Hopefully two weeks rest will give them time to recover. A number of fringe players had good games against Luton, to make a case for selection, but I think Danny will stay by the team that played Shrewsbury, if he is sticking with the 4-4-2 formation he employed then. If he reverts back to 4-5-1, then I would replace Ihionvien with Thorn.
Lo-Tutala
Hunt Tucker Raggert Iandolo
Sesay Jay Williams Payne Anderson
Kouassi Ihionvien
Subs: Roberts Digby Kuffour Lubala Terry Thorn Connolly.
As for a result. Now all the new guys should be back to full fitness, I have a good feeling about this team, and I am going for a 2-0 win, with goals from Sesay and Payne.
Weather watch A dry day with sunny intervals and a moderate (15mph) breeze, and a maximum tempreature of 15C. Ideal weather for playing football.
Sadly a rearranged train trip means I will miss Newport which is a shame because its a town I quite like. The refurbished Riverside can be lively and it's got interesting transport links, notably one of eight remaining transporter bridges. However despite spending millions on its refurbishments it remained closed even to people climbing and walking across it last time I visited. Its compatriot at Teeside is in the same state despite more millions being spent. Just outside Newport is Tredegar House where its owners lived the high life in the early 1900's. So much so that one of the sisters was found dead amongst the drug houses of London docklands.
BURTON ALBION 1 HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 3 Huddersfield handed Burton their first home league defeat of the season. Well done to oxfcolu for being the only one to get this spot-on, and a further 13 had the outcome.
LEYTON ORIENT 0 PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 2 Plymouth went top of League One after two goals in five minutes gave them this win. 4 had this spot-on, and another 10 got the outcome., with 9 going for a 2-1 in what was the weeks most predicted score.
READING 1 BRADFORD CITY 1 Managerless Bradford squandered a half-time advantage and the outright lead of League One as they were held to this draw. Only RSCOSWORTH and NME_colu got this spot-on, and only oxfcolu had the outcome.
ACCRINGTON STANLEY 2 CHELTENHAM TOWN 0 Cheltenham squandered the chance to go top of League Two as Charlie Warren scored a late brace to win it for Accrington. 3 had this spot-on, and 3 also got the outcome.
GILLINGHAM 0 NEWPORT COUNTY 0 Newport created the better chances but were forced to settle for a point as they were held to a bore draw. Nobody got this spot-on, and only Blue4U2 and unitedwhites had the outcome. 20 predicted a win for Gillingham.
GRIMSBY TOWN 1 SHREWSBURY TOWN 2 Shrewsbury claimed a priceless first away victory of the League Two campaign with this hard-fought triumph. Well done to NME_colu for being the only one to have this spot-on, and only basher2010 got the outcome. 20 predicted a win for Grimsby.
Just when it looked like things were beginning to settle down over the last two weeks, it was a step backwards again this week, as we had the second worst one of the season so far. It was a week that produced the first 1-3 and 0-2 this season, and a seventh bore draw, so it was a great effort to get 11 spot-ons in total, especially the two who managed to get two 3 pointers. They were Jorash63, who had the 2-0 wins for Plymouth and Accrington, and the Huddersfield outcome, to make him the weeks top scorer with a decent 7 points. Also NME_cufc, who got the good Reading 1-1 and Shrewsbury 2-1, to give him a decent 6 points.
In the Premier A solid week for RSCOSWORTH, that included having the Reading 1-1 spot-on, has increased his lead to double figures. The last time he lead the Premier 5 years ago, it lasted for 16 weeks, and he is looking good to repeat that at the moment. Just outcomes for the next three places, and they remain the same. A good four outcomes for basher2010 moves him up a place to fifth. The top scoring performance from Jorash63 moved him up a big six places, and off the bottom, into the top half for the first time this season. Having the Plymouth 2-0 spot-on moved Sector4 up a place to seventh. Although he moved up a place by getting the Plymouth 2-0 spot-on, BFG still finds himself in the bottom three, ahead of noah4x4 and concordman, who are ironically the current divisional Champs.
In Division One Having the Plymouth 2-0 spot-on enabled gerry_us to increase his lead to 4 points. Just the one outcome for wessex_exile, but it was enough for him to hold onto the other automatic spot, but only on the most 3 pointer rule from Lewis_1, who moved up a place to third. I said last week I had never known this league to be so close at that stage, and it has now got even closer, with Daniel just a point back in fourth, but only on the most 3 pointer rule from Tropical_Us, who moved up a couple of places, after getting the Accrington 2-0 spot-on. Then it is only a further point back to NME_cufc, who moved up three places, and into the final play-off place again, but only on the tie-breaker rules from titters and Blue4U2, who was another to have the Accrington 2-0 spot-on. A solid week for oxfcolu moved him up a place. With things so close, one outcome was not enough to stop thread dropping four places. Although he his tenth, he is only an incredible four points from the automatics.
THE TABLES (56 out of 280 played) (Tie-breaker: Most 3 pointers, and then the first to post)
Week 9 Fixtures 10 games picked by this weeks guest wessex_exile. The connection is that these are all teams who he had seen the U's play against that are in his archive. 65 games, won 24, lost 24, drawn 17. Don't forget it is an early start with the deadline 12.30
ASTON VILLA v BRENTFORD CHELSEA v AFC BOURNEMOUTH IPSWICH TOWN v FULHAM CHARLTON ATHLETIC v BRISTOL CITY (12.30) BLACKBURN ROVERS v CARDIFF CITY PRESTON NORTH END v MILLWALL BRADFORD CITY v LEYTON ORIENT HUDDERSFIELD TOWN v SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY CRAWLEY TOWN v CHESTERFIELD YORK CITY v NORTHAMPTON TOWN
Another draw on the road and our second 2-2 in eight games after going 111 without one. Once again, it was another game where we’ve led and not taken three points although when you go behind in the 92nd minute escaping with a point must almost feel like a win. It’s a return to the Jersey Mike’s Trophy this weekend, a game intelligently switched from midweek as it suited both clubs, and the visit of Luton Town, the current holders although it was called a different name when they won it of course.
This is probably a game that we need to win if we’re to have any chance of progressing in the competition and with no other game now until next Saturday, I was kind of expecting Danny to treat this like a league fixture and play our strongest team but after listening to his pre-match interview yesterday I don’t think that will be the case. We may pick a slightly stronger/more experienced team than we did against Peterborough, but I still think a number of youngsters to feature so I’m expecting the U’s to lineup as follows:
Lo-Tutala
Hunt Tucker Kuffour Jr Terry
Digby Perry
Thorn Lubala
Harvey
Ihionvien
Subs
Akande, Connolly, Payne, Williams (Jaden), Oni, Sesay, Roberts
This isn’t the team I’d pick if I wanted to win the game, far from it in fact and I’ve just realised I don’t have a defender on the bench so at least we’re going for it in that respect. As far as I’m aware Smith and KVY are both injured and will miss out. It’s been announced that Peake requires surgery and will be out for some time, but Bishop is back training now which is great news. I’m not sure whether Chiwome is injured or just out of favour. The available squad is growing with recent additions and players returning from injury and I do wonder whether Chiwome, Ihionvien, Digby and Williams will be included much going forward.
Not sure there’s anyone in the current Luton squad who has previously played for the U’s but they do have Jamie Donley (on loan from Tottenham) who grew up in Colchester and played for Colchester Villa. Players that come to mind having played for both clubs are Alec Chamberlain, George Moncur, Rowan Vine, Tony Thorpe, Wayne Andrews, Dean Morgan, Chris Coyne, Aaron Skelton, Cohen Bramall, Luke Gambin, Cameron McGeehan and Joe Taylor who was a lot more successful for us than he was for them. Most of these have been in the last 20 years and I’m sure there are plenty more due to the geographical proximity.
The weather at the JCS tomorrow is set to be cloudy and warm at 21 degrees with a gentle breeze from the west-south-west. Luton aren’t a team we’ve played a great deal, especially recently, only 28 meetings in total of which we’ve won nine to Luton’s 10. Of the six meeting in the last 20 years, we do have four wins to their two though. I know Luton have a few players away on international duty but they do take this competition pretty seriously so I’m expecting them to pick a strong team tomorrow and one that’s probably too strong for the team I’m expecting us to field so I’m going to go for a 1-2 defeat with our goal being a late consolation from substitute Oni.
PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 0 BURTON ALBION 1 Burton wing-back Jack Armer scored a second-half winner as Plymouth missed the chance to move top of League One. Very well done to thread for being the only one to get this spot-on, as everyone else predicted a win for Plymouth, with 10 going for a 2-0 in what was the weeks most predicted score.
STOCKPORT COUNTY 1 PETERBOROUGH 0 Kyle Wootton scored the only goal as Stockport battled to a win over struggling Peterborough. 21 predicted a win for Stockport, but surprisingly nobody had it spot-on.
WYCOMBE WANDERERS 2 READING 2 Danny Ings made a sensational start to life with Wycombe with a 90th-minute equaliser. 3 got this spot-on, and a further 6 (all going 1-1) had the outcome.
BRISTOL ROVERS 1 EXETER CITY 0 Fabrizio Cavegn's 67th-minute strike created club history for Bristol Rovers with an 11th straight home league win. A great 8 had this spot-on, and another 14 got the outcome.
FLEETWOOD TOWN 1 ROCHDALE 2 Ten-man Rochdale survived a Fleetwood onslaught to earn this victory. Only titters and NME_cufc got this spot-on, and only BFG had the outcome. 15 predicted a win for Fleetwood.
TRANMERE ROVERS 1 WALSALL 1 Walsall extended their unbeaten run to eight matches with a 91st minute equaliser, to earn a lucky point, after they only had two shots on target. As Tranmere had 21 shots with 11 on target, and missed a penalty. 3 had this spot-on, and one more got the outcome.
Only the Fleetwood game had goals in the first-half, but second-half goals in all the other games, ended up giving us a mixed bag of results, that thanks mainly to the Bristol Rovers 1-0, we got a good 17 spot-ons in total, and the best 6 game week of the season so far. Four members did well to have two 3 pointers, with the best coming from RSCOSWORTH, who had the Rovers 1-0 and the Tranmere 1-1, and Daniel who got the draws at Wycombe and Tranmere. They each also had two outcomes, to give them both a share of being the weeks top scorer, with an excellent 8 points. Also Lewis_1, who got the Wycombe 2-2 and the Rovers 1-0, and one outcome, to give him a decent 7 points. Finally unitedwhites, who was another to have the Rovers win and the Tranmere draw, to give him a decent 6 points. Best of those to get one 3 pointer was thread, who had that good Burton 1-0 and three outcomes, to give him a decent 6 points.
In the Premier The top scoring performance from RSCOSWORTH has increased his lead to a healthy 7 points. Having the Rovers 1-0 spot-on keeps ghughes11 in the other DEMS spot. Up a place to third is mfb_cufc, after he was another to have the Rovers win spot-on. The Rovers 1-0 spot-on also for thrillseeker and basher2010, as they swop places, with the former moving up a place on the first to post rule. Three outcomes for blueeagle was enough to move him up a place. The biggest change came from concordman, as he moved up three places, to take him off the bottom. But he is still only a point above the relegation places, that are only being separated by the tie-breaker rules. Things remain really close in this division with 2nd to 12th only being separated by 11 points.
Ib Division One After 7 weeks this league is the closest it has ever been at this stage, with only an incredible 10 points separating top to bottom. Three outcomes was enough for gerry_us to maintain his lead, and two outcomes keeps wessex_exile in the other automatic spot. The top scoring performance from Daniel moved him up three places to third. The decent week for Lewis_1 moved him up another place to third. Despite having the Rochdale 2-1 spot-on titters drops two to fifth. The decent week for thread moves him up a place, and back into the final play-off place again. The only other upward move came from Blue4U2, going up a couple of places, after having the Wycombe 2-2 spot-on.
THE TABLES (50 out of 280 played) (Tie-breaker: Most 3 pointers, and then the first to post)
Week 8 Fixtures The International break continues, so it is 6 games from the fixtures left in League's 1 & 2 again.
BURTON ALBION v HUDDERSFIELD TOWN LEYTON ORIENT v PLYMOUTH ARGYLE READING v BRADFORD CITY ACCRINGTON STANLEY v CHELTENHAM TOWN GILLINGHAM v NEWPORT COUNTY GRIMSBY TOWN v SHREWSBURY TOWN
Seven points after three matches was a pleasing, if slightly fortuitous return, but nine points from seven games doesn’t look quite so good. On the balance of play I think nine points is probably about right given the up and down nature of the performances and the last time we had more than nine points after seven games was in the 2020/21 season, so it’s actually been a pretty decent start to the season for us. A trip to Shrewsbury is next up for the U’s. A side who are a few places below us in the table and also one of the lowest scorers in the division. We did the double over them last season and we really could with three points tomorrow. Four of our next five league games are against teams below us in the table so in a few weeks we’ll have a much better idea of what kind of season we’re in for.
Obviously, Danny made wholesale changes for the EFL Trophy match against Peterborough and I’m not sure anyone did enough to improve their case for being a starter rather than a squad player. After picking the same starting XI for three consecutive league matches there will be at least one enforced change tomorrow as Jay Williams is away on international duty. I believe KVY was also hoping to represent his country but will be staying with the U’s instead, in light of this I’m expecting the U’s to lineup as follows:
Beryly Lubala has signed on a short term deal today after spending a couple of weeks training with the squad. He was here on loan previously when both Wayne Brown and then Matt Bloomfield were in charge. I believe he was a striker then but is evidently a winger now. We definitely needed a wide player and at 28 he’s good age with decent experience so hopefully he can be a good signing for us. If he’s not able to figure tomorrow I expect Connolly to be on the bench instead as Jaden Williams is now suspended after our failed appeal against his sending off last weekend. I think Hunt is a tidy footballer although I’m not a massive fan of him slotting into the midfield alongside Sesay but, for some reason, Cowley doesn’t seem to trust Digby and I just can’t see him getting the nod to start tomorrow. It doesn’t bode well when the manager is choosing to play a player out of position rather than pick the player that was meant to offer that added bite and steel in midfield. If things don’t change soon, I can see him being this season’s Gape. If Bishop, Oni and Perry were fit I don’t think he would be getting anywhere near the matchday squad.
Don’t think there’s anyone in the current Shrewsbury Town squad who’s appeared for Col U or vice versa. Our former captain and now head of first team recruitment, Tom Flanagan, spent two seasons there before he joined the U’s though. And Anthony Scully has also appeared for both in recent seasons. Please feel free to add any more that you come up with. Gavin Cowan, the current Shrewsbury manager, never figured for Col U but did begin his career at Braintree.
The weather at the New Meadow tomorrow is set to be sunny and warm at 19 degrees with a gentle breeze from the south-west. Shrewsbury aren’t a team we’ve played a lot recently, only 11 meetings this century in fact of which we’ve won four to Shrewsbury’s three. We've not managed an away win this season yet (or a draw) but with the New Meadow feeling somewhat familiar I’m going for the U’s to come out on top 1-0 with a late winner from substitute Lubala.
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Nobody got this spot-on, and only unitedwhites had the outcome. 21 predicted a win for Bradford. 
