Youth Team Stay Top Of The Table
Posted on: Mon 26 Oct 2009
REPORT BY BRIAN WALLERColchester continued their good league form, in what was a rather undistinguished display on Saturday afternoon.
On the face of it, the game should have been no contest with the U's sitting proudly at the top of the table, with the Shots second from bottom, but it was in truth the visitors who had the majority of the play, as the hosts struggled to get their game going.
The morning had started damp, but thankfully the rain that did occur very much during the game with no more than a slight drizzle at the worst.
However the skies were grey, with most of the first half action matching that, with very little seen from Colchester.
The first real play from the visitors saw Reece Connolly getting in on the right into the area, but John Glowacki was across with an excellent covering tackle.
Then it was the U's going close as the ball was given away cheaply to Jordan Sanderson who advanced and fired in from 25 yards, but keeper Jordan Clement on the dive pushed the ball away.
A misplaced home pass put the defence under pressure, but left back Shane Stamp was across to put in an excellent tackle on Josh Pearson.
There were early concerns for Trevor Ajim as Adam Mekki slipped past the U's defender, who caught him with a mistimed challenge just inside the Colchester half, and he became the first of many hosts players at odds with the referee.
It was then Conor McCloskey being spoken to, as he brought to ground Thomas Browne, after he was set up by good work by Douglas Bergqvist and Josh Casey.
When Carlton Cox provided the chance for Connolly, there was a slight deflection on the shot, but keeper Andrew Dickey made a good low save.
Then good pressure by Jordan Pavett saw the defender clear out only as far as Ryan Melaugh and he fed across towards Craig Arnott, but excellent defensive play by Bergqvist denied him the space to get in the shot.
The Colchester defence were then tested again after they failed to deal with a through ball and as Pearson and Connolly did the work, the chance was lined up for Cox, but his drive was badly off target.
After good link up play by Jordan Sanderson, it was Arnott finding Pavett, who crossed deep to the back post but Arnott could not get a good connection with his header, which looped up in the air.
As the half hour mark passed, it was a superb run forward from his own half by James Pilgrim. He evaded a couple of challenges, but keeper Dickey dived and the ball was past him to his right, but just outside the post.
A ball was switched to the right which Stamp misjudged, and when winger Pearson came back inside, he seemed to be impeded in the box, but the referee said nothing doing, and the U's had an escape.
As Aldershot ended the half strongly, it was Mekki on the turn, and he struck the shot early but it was flashing just wide of Dickey's left hand post.
After their disappointing play in the first half, Colchester did restart a bit brighter, but were still conceding too many free kicks.
The first real chance did come to them though, as Arnott brought the ball down, but the effort was really weak with his left foot.
The aggression levels in the game rose a bit higher, as the referee had seen enough and when Ajim slid in and caught Mekki, the home defender's vain appeals that he got the ball were waved aside as the referee booked him.
The Shots had introduced a sub at half time, and then a double change by Colchester seemed to swing the destination in the game towards them as Alex O'Leary and Jordan Lartey came on down the left flank for Melaugh and Stamp.
However when Bradley Hamilton crashed into Casey on the touchline he became the second player booked, on what was no doubt a rather slippy pitch.
The resulting free kick was a real danger, but John Glowacki stepped in with a good block.
O'Leary then slid in to make a tackle, but his intended target Louis O'Sullivan was not found and it was Cox, Mekki and Pearson combining as they went close again.
After Dickey made a superb save, the ball ran loose to Cox, and the hosts escaped as the ball was scooped off the line, when a goal looked a certainty. Another ill advised challenge by Sanderson on the left attacking Aldershot position, saw him in the book as well.
An Ajim hand ball, could have been more costly for him, as the referee deemed it only a free kick, but he was soon replaced by Cem Aytac.
The U's then struck and all the credit must go to Jordan Lartey who forced keeper Clement to tip his shot over the bar, and when O'Leary swung the corner in from the right, he was there to glance the header home on the back post with about ten minutes to go.
The subs were having a big impact, and when O'Leary swung the corner in again, it was Lartey again with a header, but it glanced off one of the many bodies in the box and away to safety.
Colchester were now playing far better, and another goal then looked very likely.
Arnott cut in from the right and curled in a glorious left footer, that struck the underside of the bar and away out again.
Sanderson then tried his luck, but the keeper was up to catch and then when Lartey closed down a defender and robbed him, he unselfishly squared to Craig Arnott, who fired into the net, with just a couple of minutes remaining.
It was tough on Aldershot who probably did not deserve the end result, and their frustrations were complete when Aytac was caught by a bad challenge by Cox, who was booked too.
Colchester: Andrew Dickey, Bradley Hamilton, John Glowacki, Trevor Ajim, Shane Stamp, Conor McCloskey, Jordan Sanderson, Louis O'Sullivan, Ryan Melaugh, Craig Arnott and Jordan Pavett
Used subs: Alex O'Leary, Jordan Lartey and Cem Aytac
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