Colchester United recorded their biggest win of the season at home to Crewe Alexandra with a commanding 4-0 victory in North Essex.
John Akinde got the game going with two goals in a four-minute spell of the first half; Noah Chilvers soon added to the tally with the U’s taking a 3-0 lead into the dressing room at half time.
Samson Tovide bagged his second of the season with a neat finish ten minutes after the restart as the U’s calmly ran out the cloc
Ben Garner named a team with two changes from the eleven that started against Stevenage on Good Friday, changing the attacking force lining up against Crewe.
Freddie Sears and Tom Hopper dropped to the bench, with John Akinde and Samson Tovide coming into the starting line-up; the U’s Head Coach wanted to start the other nine players that had featured against Stevenage, but a warm-up injury to Kieran O’Hara meant Tom Smith made his club debut.
Smith was replaced on the bench by Alex Newby in an unplanned change for the hosts ahead of the action in North Essex.
The first half went perfectly to plan for Ben Garner’s side who held a three-goal advantage heading into the break.
A steady quarter of an hour eased the U’s into the contest, while Crewe struggled to get a foot on the ball. Chances came and went for Tovide and Wood, but Beadle was equal to them between the sticks for the visitors.
Callum Ainley picked up a booking for the visitors, with Connor O’Riordan withdrawn due to injury in an unsettled few minutes for the Alex; McDonald came on in the defender’s place.
Twenty-four minutes into the contest, the U’s opened the scoring with John Akinde on target for his sixth of the campaign. A quick break from Tchamadeu saw him slide the ball through for Tovide, who unselfishly passed to Akinde for a tidy finish from close range.
And the returning striker didn’t have to wait long for his, and the U’s, second of the game. Connor Wood’s delivery bounced kindly off Chilvers’ head for Akinde to rifle in from all of six yards after twenty-eight minutes.
The two-goal lead boosted the noise from all U’s-supporting sides of the stadium, with just a handful of minutes to wait for another strike. John Akinde was close to completing a perfect hattrick on thirty-five minutes with a header landing on the roof of the net, but it was Noah Chilvers who extended the advantage for Colchester.
As he did against Leyton Orient, Chivers cut the ball back to take the defender out of the game to blast home from the apex of the penalty area giving his side a comfortable lead to take into half time.
The referee issued further bookings to either side with Kelleher and Adebisi awarded yellow cards, but Ben Garner’s side were cruising at the break.
Crewe made the unusual move of a triple change at the break – Adebisi, Baker-Richardson and Brook were all hooked at the break, replaced by Mellor, Long and Nevitt.
The changes made no immediate difference though, with Ben Garner’s side extending their lead ten minutes after the restart. Arthur Read spotted the run of Tovide who applied a simple finish beyond the onrushing ‘keeper to make it four goals to the good after fifty-five minutes of action.
And a few moments later, Colchester made their first changes of the afternoon. There was rapturous applause for Junior Tchamadeu and John Akinde who, after getting through plenty of work, were replaced by Will Greenidge and Tom Hopper.
Garner opted for two further changes a few minutes later with his side in full control at the JobServe Community Stadium. Noah Chilvers and Arthur Read were removed, while there was a welcome return for Cole Skuse, with Matt Jay also coming on.
The U’s kept the pressure on with Matt Jay going close with a deflected effort, before Jayden Fevrier was introduced for the final fifteen minutes. He was straight into the action, testing Beadle with a low striker as Colchester pressed for a fifth of the afternoon.
Tom Smith made a routine save on what was a quiet afternoon for his Football League and Colchester United debut with five minutes left to play, but there was nothing coming between the U’s and three points against the Alex.
The resounding win lifts the U’s up to twentieth in the standings with forty-two points from forty-one matches, moving Colchester above Harrogate Town and four points clear of the drop.
Up next for Ben Garner’s side is a trip north, with Salford City hosting Colchester United next Saturday afternoon.
Colchester United starting XI: Smith, Chambers, Chilvers (Jay 67’), Kelleher, Read (Skuse 67’), Ashley, Tchamadu (Greenidge 62’), Wood, Akinde (Hopper 62’), Hall, Tovide.
Subs: Greenidge, Skuse, Sears, Newby, Jay, Hopper, Fevrier.
Crewe Alexandra starting XI: Beadle, Adebisi (Mellor 46’), Offord, Thomas, Baker-Richardson (Long 46’), Ainley (Griffiths 84’), Agyei, O’Riordan (McDonald 21’), Brook (Nevitt 46’), Tabiner, Robertson.
Subs: Richards, Mellor, McDonald, Long, Griffiths, Colkett, Nevitt.
Attendance: 4,158 (188)