Colchester United left it late to steal a point against Swindon Town in an enthralling 2-2 draw at the County Ground.
The U’s were two goals down before Matt Jay nodded in his first for the club just before the break to halve the defecit.
And a one-sided second half saw Colchester press but fail to land a glove until the dying seconds of the game. Conor Wilkinson and Brad Ihionvien both put cases across to lay claim to the strike, with the ninety-fourth minute goal giving the U’s a point in the first game under Danny Cowley.
Danny Cowley made two changes when naming his first Colchester United starting eleven. Joe Taylor and John Akinde were out, and replaced by Matt Jay and Tom Hopper in the match against Swindon Town.
Akinde dropped to the bench, while Taylor was missing from the matchday eighteen; new signing Conor Wilkinson came into the squad to take his place amongst the substitutes after putting pen-to-paper on a deal with the club earlier in the week.
Lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, the U’s had a back line of Mitchell, Hall, Dallison and Iandolo. Arthur Read and Marley Marshall Miranda played as the holding pair behind Jay, Fevrier and Chilvers who were in support of lone striker Tom Hopper.
The opening fifteen minutes saw little action at either end of the pitch, with the first significant event coming as Noah Chilvers was booked for a foul on Udoka Godwin-Malife.
The foul, and subsequent free kick brought the first real chances of the game for the hosts. The set piece was played to Tyrece Shade, who forced a good save out of Owen Goodman at the near post.
Colchester dealt with the first corner well, but struggled with the second, with Marley Marshall Miranda deemed to have fouled his man in the area, with the hosts awarded a penalty. Charlie Austin stepped up to convert, with a powerful strike down the middle.
The U’s responded to the goal well, and almost had an equaliser within a matter of minutes. Tom Hopper did well to nod his header down to Matt Jay, with the midfielder’s effort fizzing over the top of the crossbar. And from the resulting goal kick, Colchester won the ball high up, with Ward needing to make a fine save to deny Hopper’s header at the back post.
Two minutes later the U’s were denied a penalty of their own. Ellis Iandolo went down in a similar fashion to the incident that saw the hosts awarded a spot kick ten minutes earlier, but all shouts fell on deaf ears by Colchester players and staff alike.
Colchester were starting to feel hard done by with the officials after Tom Hopper was having his shirt pulled after beating Godwin-Malife in a foot race to the ball. The U’s striker went to ground, with the referee allowing play to continue as the hosts regained possession.
Swindon doubled their goal tally just before half time with Tom Brewitt benefitting from a loose ball in the area to crash home at the near post.
However, the U’s responded well and ensured the deficit was only one goal at half time with Matt Jay on target for his first in Colchester colours. Noah Chilvers delivered a whipped cross that Jay steered in to the far post to make it 2-1 in first half stoppage time with the whistle going moments later.
Making no changes at the break, Cowley’s side came out fighting and were close to being back on level terms within three minutes of the restart. Matt Jay found himself in plenty of space, but saw his goal-bound effort cleared off the line by Liam Kinsella at the back post.
Marley Marshall Miranda was booked just before the first changes in the game, with John Akinde and Conor Wilkinson both introduced to the action. They came on after tireless shifts from Matt Jay and Tom Hopper in attack, with the hosts also swapping Aguiar for Cain.
A further change came for the U’s eight minutes later with Owura Edwards brought on for the final fifteen, taking Zach Mitchell’s place.
The telling goal came with seconds to spare for the U’s, with Danny Cowley’s side snatching a late equaliser – although there was plenty of debate as to who netted the all-important goal.
Noah Chilvers’ corner was an awkward one for the goalkeeper with both Conor Wilkinson and Brad Ihionvien in the same space. The ball was spilled with both Conor and Brad wheeling off in celebration, as the U’s bagged the late equaliser, with Ihionvien likely to have gotten the final touch.
The spirited performance from the U’s saw them fight back from two goals down at one point in the game to take something back to Essex with them, leaving the hosts deflated.
It means the U’s remain in twenty-second, but add to their points tally, now on twenty-four from twenty seven with a home match coming up against Bradford City at the JobServe Community Stadium next weekend.
Swindon Town starting XI: Ward, Hutton, Khan, Brewitt, Cain (Aguiar 68’), Kokolo, Godwin-Malife, Kinsella, Shade, Minturn, Austin (McEachran 83’).
Subs: McEachran, Genesini, Dworzak, Aguiar, Hart, Obodo, Evans.
Colchester United starting XI: Goodman, Iandolo, Hall, Dallison, Jay (Wilkinson 67’), Chilvers, Hopper (Akinde 67’), Mitchell (Edwards 76’), Read, Marshall Miranda (Ihionvien 83’), Fevrier.
Subs: Hornby, Greenidge, Wilkinson, Edwards, Akinde, Kazeem, Ihionvien.
Attendance: 7,235 (329)