Colchester United U18s were well-beaten by Cardiff City U18s, succumbing to a 6-1 defeat.
Elliott Ward opted for a 3-5-2 formation when the U’s faced Cardiff City at Maldon & Tiptree on a cold Saturday morning.
The opening ten minutes saw both teams battle for possession in the middle of the field with chances few and scarce.
The visitors tried getting a foothold in the game but the U’s resisted well with the defensive line holding shape and thwarting off any threats.
Colchester were very unlucky to concede after seventeen minutes of playing when a heavy deflection beat the U’s goalkeeper. One of U’s defenders was just too late to block a shot from outside the area.
Elliott Ward’s men nearly got an equaliser five minutes later, but Kai Martin’s low effort inside the box was saved despite causing some trouble for the visitor’s goalkeeper.
The task of getting back into the game became even harder for the U’s on twenty-eight minutes after well-worked build-up play saw one of Cardiff’s forwards one-on-one with Colchester’s ‘keeper.
The striker didn’t panic taking the ball around the shot-stopper before converting from a tight angle.
The visitors then dominated creating several dangerous chances, before getting their third after thirty-three minutes. A powerful strike from twenty-five yards saw the U’s ‘keeper drop the ball before it was tapped in by Cardiff’s pouncing number ten.
It looked like the U’s were going to come back into the game after forty minutes when a lovely low ball from a trialist saw Burak Sabah facing the visitor’s goalkeeper in the five-yard box. The U’s forward looked up before placing a curling shot into the far corner of the net.
Unfortunately, despite Colchester getting a goal back, the visitors added their fourth three minutes later. There wasn’t much time for anything else afterwards with Ward’s men going in at half-time trailing by three goals.
Before the start of the second half, Ward opted for some changes with Kokoshi, Uwandu and Bajoko entering the field replacing Drysdale, Martin and Sabah.
The changes seemed to have worked with the U’s looking more determined to score. The youngsters had a couple of decent occasions in the first ten minutes of the second half, most notably with Uwandu hitting the side netting after a great move in the opposition’s penalty area.
However, after thwarting Colchester’s attacks, it was the visitors who began dominating yet again. And it was them who managed to score the sixth goal of the game setting the score at 5-1 after sixty-five minutes.
Not long after they scored again making it nearly impossible for the U’s to get back into the clash.
Time ticked on with the U’s constantly trying to break the opposition, but despite several decent attempts, the youngsters failed to find the net with the score staying the same.
Colchester United Starting XI: Trialist, Elkanah Akor, Mitch Ward, Ronnie Harvey, Frankie Edwards, Andrew Palmer-Brown, Rasheed Drysdale, Kai Martin, Trialist, Burak Sabah, Ewan Gordon-Clement
Subs: Daniel Bajoko, Jayden Peglar, Alex Kokoshi, Samson Uwandu, Jamie Arnold
