Colchester United

There were two changes to the Col U starting eleven for the game and the home side started on the front foot in the opening period of the match.

The home side finished the game with a series of half chances that threatened to give them a late rally, but the visitors extended their unbeaten run on the road to seventeen matches. 

They faced a well organised and well drilled Magpies side who, once they got their noses in front, made it very difficult for the U's to find a path to goal. 

Two first half goals sent the U's to their first home defeat under the management of Joe Dunne on Tuesday night.

But it was a match short of clear cut chances until Rose had the first sight of goal on eleven minutes, whipping in a free kick on the angle into the outside of the side netting with Bialkowski scrambling across.

The U’s were attempting to get into their stride with their fast paced game, with a couple of quickly taken free kicks and throw ins showing their intent in the early stages.

Henderson went into the book for a foul on Judge on the halfway line, before the visitors took the lead just after the quarter hour mark.

From a free kick thrown in from the left, it found Judge about eight yards out and he hooked an effort into the top corner that Rose couldn’t deflect over the bar.

The U’s were threatening and Ibehre got a header on target midway through the half, but lacked the power to really test Bialkowski.

They were trying to find the killer ball to unlock the County door and had responded well to going behind.

Bean was the next to go close as a patient and well crafted move ended with the ball being cut back to the midfielder, but his stabbed shot went agonisingly over the bar.

Ibehre then stretched every sinew to try and head the ball towards goal but it skimmed off his head as the linesman’s flag also denied him.

The U’s were moving it around nicely, but for all of their possession, they found themselves two down just before the interval.

A ball was thrown into the area from a free kick and it dropped to Judge, who got there quickest to stab past Cousins into the net.

Two down at the break, the U’s didn’t get themselves going at the start of the second half and the visitors were looking the most likely to notch again.

However, intricate play got them into the County penalty area and Henderson’s lobbed shot was well saved by Bialkowski.

The ball hadn’t gone out of play by the time the U’s got in again, Massey stroking home but only after the linesman had raised his flag.

Arquin then went close and the visiting fans thought he had extended the advantage, but their celebrations were short lived too as it went behind the goal.

The U’s were pushing as they looked for a way back into it, and midway through the second half they introduced Bond and Sears for Bean and Massey.

Sears almost made an immediate impact, spinning his man and breaking towards goal, with only a late tackle denying him the chance to get a shot away.

His pace injected a new option for the U’s, but the Magpies caught the home side on the counter with fifteen to go, Judge hitting the stantion behind the goal.

There were chances for the U’s, Henderson lashing over when a cross came over from the right hand side, but it was always going over.

Then Wordsworth clipped his shot over the bar under pressure, his effort always rising as the defender closed him down.

Good chances remained at a premium, and the U’s introduced Morrison for Eastmond for the dying moments of the game as they looked to get something out of the match.

Henderson hit the bar from a corner as his header bounced off the top of the woodwork, but the ball dropped out of play rather than to a U’s man to tuck home.

As the clock wore down, the home side had a series of ‘almost’ chances, with Sears forcing a god stop out of Bialkowski at his near post, before Okuonghae saw the keeper tip his looping header over the bar.

But it summed up the U’s day as they were defeated at home for the first time under the management of Joe Dunne.