Goals from Samson Uwandu and Jamie Arnold were not enough on a chilly afternoon at Florence Park, as the U's succumbed to a 4-2 defeat against Charlton.
Colchester United were taking on Charlton Athletic in a Professional Development League clash at Florence Park on a Tuesday afternoon.
Elliott Ward named a young starting eleven with the likes of Ryan Mumbo, Caiden Lewis, and Harvey Duggins all coming out for the first forty-five minutes.
The U’s began the match with real intensity nearly going ahead in the first two minutes, but Samson Uwandu’s powerful strike from the edge of the box was saved.
Less than sixty seconds later it was the visitors who had a chance to open the scoring but their low effort was saved by Chamberlain who dived well to his left-hand side.
With ten minutes on the clock, Mumbo became the first player of the match to receive a yellow card after he blatantly brought an opponent down.
Charlton won a corner from the resulting free-kick and should have scored, but their guided header was saved by alert Chamberlain in goal.
It became a tight contest for the next twenty minutes with half-chances here and there but no meaningful attempts on goal. The U’s dominated possession and attempted to play out from the back but with little success in the first half an hour.
Throughout the first half, Ward encouraged his men to stay high up, especially his full-backs, with Makhaya James causing some trouble for the visitors on the left flank.
And that high, offensive set-up paid off with ten minutes to go in the first half when a cross from the flank was converted by Samson Uwandu with a drilling strike from close range.
Colchester then could have extended their lead through persistent Makhaya James who became a real handful for Charlton’s defenders.
The U’s full-back received the ball on the left flank before driving forward and unleashing a low shot from an angle, which came off the post. Soon after, the referee blew the whistle for half-time.
Colchester didn’t start the second half well, conceding an equaliser three minutes after the restart. A cross from a corner was converted with a gentle header from close range, which caught Chamberlain out.
With fifty-five minutes gone, Ward opted for his first change replacing tired Makhaya James with Donte Frank.
Following the equaliser, it was the visitors from south-east London who began to dominate. They created a couple of decent chances before the hour mark but Chamberlain remained alert and dealt with the efforts.
The U’s shot-stopper, however, had no chance of saving Charlton’s second with an unstoppable strike from twenty-five yards flying into the top corner of the net on sixty-four minutes.
With U’s needing to get back on level terms, Ward introduced James Sasere who replaced Ewan Gordon-Clement with twenty-two minutes to go.
Colchester’s intensity increased following the substitutions and the U’s were back on level terms after seventy-seven minutes. There was a lot of luck involved, with the ball coming off the woodwork twice in a tightly contested penalty box before Jamie Arnold managed to tap it in on the third attempt.
The youngsters didn’t get to enjoy being level for a long time with Charlton taking the lead back five minutes later when a powerful shot from the edge of the box broke through Chamberlain’s hands.
Two minutes into added time, the visitors crushed any hopes of a comeback for the U’s, setting the score at 4-2.
There wasn’t much time for anything else afterwards with the referee blowing the full-time whistle.
Colchester United Starting XI: 1. Chamberlain, 2. Mumbo, 3. James, 4. Martin, 5. Lewis, 6. Duggins, 7. Uwandu, 8. Trialist, 9. Gordon-Clement, 10. Kokoshi, 11. Arnold
Subs: 29. Sexton, 12. Frank, 14. Harvey, 15. Sasere