Colchester United

George Haberman was on Player Watch duty and kept his eye on Frankie Kent's performance.

The U's had had the better of the second half, but were hit by a late sucker punch with Leon Clarke's precise header.

Colchester United's six game unbeaten run came to an end on Saturday, as one goal was enough to separate the U's and Bury in the battle of the in-form teams.First Half

1 min: Early in the game Frankie beats Leon Clarke in the air on the edge of the area. Clarke could give Kent a lot of hassle today with his size and strength!

3 min: Bury attempt the same long ball to Clarke but again Frankie wins the header and it's the same outcome. 

4 mins: Frankie has settled into the game very well and looks to be calm on the ball with the protection of Owen Garvan and Joe Edwards just in front of him. Edwards' passes back to him and Kent fires a cross-field ball to Massey which results in a Colchester United throw deep in the Bury half.

6 mins: From a U's corner Frankie challenges Nathan Cameron in the air on the six-yard line but Cameron just does enough to put the 19 year old off!

8 mins: An Owen Garvan free kick is met by Kent and directed goalwards, unfortunately it goes agonisingly wide. However the linesman signals for offside so the goal wouldn't have stood anyway.

11 mins: Frankie and Tom Eastman combine to stop Craig Jones racing through on goal. Jamie Jones smothers the ball and looks to set a Colchester attack.

17 mins: Frankie, Tosin Olufemi and Gavin Massey are knocking the ball about well on the right hand side of the pitch and keeping possession. It's worth noting that this is Frankie's fifth start in a year and Tosin's second start in 16 months! They have both made comebacks from long injury lay-offs and neither has lost any composure 

23 mins: Jamie Jones rolls the ball out short to Edwards who gives it straight to Frankie. Leon Clarke bears down on the youngster but again he shows extraordinary composure to turn away and pick out Gavin Massey with another superb cross-field ball! 

28 mins: An injury to Jamie Jones delays the game, it looks like a dislocation but the Colchester United physio Tony Flynn is on hand to sort out the problem. Jones gets to his feet, which is met with huge cheers from the home crowd.

33 mins: Frankie holds up Clarke on the end of the box and Eastman comes sliding in on him to help clear the danger.

34 mins: Kent picks out Marvin Sordell on the right wing with an outstanding ball and Joe Riley is forced to intervene for Bury and put the ball out for a Colchester United throw deep in the opposition half.

36 mins: Frankie and Tom Eastman set a perfect offside trap which Hallam Hope falls into and Colchester United are awarded a free kick.

45 mins: Frankie makes a last ditch tackle to stop Leon Clarke threatening the U's goal after Danny Pugh put him through! Frankie got the slightest of touches when fully stretched but did enough to stop the shot coming in.

That was a solid first half from Frankie! He and Tom Eastman look completely at ease and calm when on the ball whilst Bury have rarely threatened Jamie Jones' goal. The few chances they have had have been dealt with comfortably, especially the tackle on Leon Clarke right before the half time whistle. 

Second Half 

50 mins: The U's have dominated the opening period of the second half. Frankie hasn't had much to do so far apart from wrap up a loose long ball from Joe Riley and start another Colchester attack.

51 mins: Tom Pope came on at half time for Bury and finds himself in a dangerous position right in the middle of Kent and Eastman. Frankie forces him out wide and manages to knock the ball out for a corner. The resulting corner comes to nothing as Bury attempt a short corner but end up giving away a free kick for offside.

53 mins: Tom Pope and Leon Clarke are both trying to use their strength to get the better of Frankie, however he's having none of it! When Frankie and Pope come together, Frankie shows his power by bustling him off the ball and seeing it out of play for a U's throw in.

55 mins: Bury try to catch Colchester on the counter attack with Tosin Olufemi slightly out of position. Frankie gets across and covers for his teammate by making a challenge! Good work from the Colchester United academy graduate.

62 mins: Pope and Clarke are trying to rattle Frankie and this time it's Clarke who is all over the back of him. Once again Frankie deals with everything they're throwing at him and heads the ball clear!

63 mins: Leon Clarke gets a yellow card after the referee deems him to have fouled Frankie one too many times.

66 mins: It's taken 66 minutes for Leon Clarke to get past Frankie; after a long ball over the top Clarke appears to be away but Tom Eastman is across to deal with it. From the resulting throw in Frankie more than makes up for his slight error with a great tackle on the six yard line when it looked like Pope was about to pull the trigger!

73 mins: A decent spell of attacking football for Colchester United means both Frankie and Tom are getting some rest at the back.

74 mins: GOAL! Colchester 0 – 1 Bury! Bury’s first proper shot at the U's goal ends up in the back of the net! After a mix up from Sordell, the ball falls kindly for Danny Pugh who crosses for Leon Clarke to head home at the back post over Tosin. A very unfortunate goal for the U’s to concede as they had looked the stronger of the two teams during the second half.

78 mins: Tom Pope can't use his size to get the better of Frankie! He tries to back into him but Kent sticks out a leg to poke the ball away from danger.

85 mins: For the third of fourth time today the Bury strikers foul Frankie. The referee gives a free kick in Colchester's favour as they throw everyone forward searching for that equalising goal. 

FULL TIME: Colchester 0 – 1 Bury

Frankie had a good but difficult second half. Leon Clarke and Tom Pope made it hard for him throughout, but he dealt with their presence and power exceptionally well for such a young professional. The U's can consider themselves unlucky not to have taken anything from this game, as a loss doesn't justify the on field performance from Frankie and the rest of the players.

Full Time Analysis 

An excellent performance from Frankie Kent today saw him deal with experienced powerful strikers Tom Pope and Leon Clarke very well. He can be very proud of his fifth start this season and is unlucky to be on the losing side today. He exemplified that despite being just 19 years old he is as strong on the ball as anybody else wont let anyone push him around. He also looked comfortable and composed on the ball, which was very pleasing to see from a centre back and his partnership with Tom Eastman at the heart of the defence looked very solid throughout the 90 minutes. More performances like this will surely see the U's keep clean sheets and get back to winning ways.