Colchester United U21s progressed through to the next round of the BBC Essex Senior Cup after beating Walthamstow FC on penalties 3-1 following a goalless ninety minutes.
Colchester United U21s were taking on Walthamstow FC in the Fourth Round of the BBC Essex Senior Cup at Wadham Lodge on a freezing Tuesday evening.
Paul Konchesky named a strong squad with the likes of Owura Edwards, Chay Cooper, Brad Ihionvien, Will Greenidge, Tom Smith and Al-Amin Kazeem all starting.
The first ten minutes of the match saw both teams battling for possession in the middle of the park with the U’s creating slightly more half-chances.
Brad Ihionvien and Kaan Bennett both made good runs in the beginning stages but were either stopped by the opposition’s defence or caught offside.
Colchester’s best chance of the match came after eighteen minutes when Owura Edwards received the ball on the right flank before brilliantly cutting inside and unleashing a powerful shot with his left foot, only for it to be dealt with by the ‘keeper who held onto it well.
After the twentieth-minute mark, the game began to open up with both teams managing to create dangerous chances - neither team, however, could capitalise and find the back of the net.
The rest of the half saw chances few and scarce with the U’s dominating possession but unable to lay a glove on the opposition. This meant that both teams went in at the break with honours even.
Ahead of the second forty-five minutes, Konchesky opted for three changes with Jet Dyer, Bayan Aman and a trialist replacing Owura Edwards, Frankie Terry and Al-Amin Kazeem.
Colchester came out firing for the second half and nearly took the lead through Bennett after two minutes – the forward, however, was unable to reach the ball in the five-yard box after it was drilled in from the flank.
The U’s persisted and should have had their second sixty seconds later but this time, despite beating the offside trap, Ihionvien shot straight at the ‘keeper from close range.
In the following ten minutes, the young forward had three more chances to put himself on the scoresheet but on each occasion, his effort was either blocked or missed the target.
The hosts then made it clear that they were still in the game by creating a couple of dangerous chances in quick succession. Firstly, a well-guided cross was missed by everyone in the box and then an effort from fifteen yards flew well above Smith’s crossbar.
The U’s seemed to have been angered by the opposition’s attempts and should have scored two or three goals before the seventieth-minute mark. Each time, however, they either hit the side netting or narrowly missed the target.
With twenty minutes to go all cautious tactics went out of the window with both sides choosing to play end-to-end football. While the U’s were happier in possession and slow build-up play, the Stow opted for counter-attacks and long balls over the top.
Colchester had a fantastic chance to prevent a penalty shoot-out well into added time but Cooper’s strike from outside the box was kept out by a flying fingertip save.
There wasn’t much time left afterwards with the clash eventually going to penalties.
Tom Smith ended up being the hero saving two penalties with the U's progressing through after winning 3-1.
Colchester Starting XI: Smith, Kazeem, Kennedy, Edwards, Terry, Cooper, Ihionvien, Lowe, Edwards, Greenidge, Bennett
Subs: Collins, Dyer, Oliver, Trialist, Aman
