Colchester United have had a tough workout at League One side Stevenage, but more than held their own with a man less for seventy five minutes after Sean Raggett was show a harsh red card.
He was adjudged to have handled on the line and left the field before Jamie Reid scored the resultant penalty that won the game 1-0 for the hosts.
Organised defending saw the hosts frustrated, especially in the second half, but the U’s were thankful for the returning Tom Smith who made a couple of decent late saves.
The early stages of the game saw the hosts helped out by a couple of poor passes from the U’s in their own half, the second of which should have been punished.
After picking up one of the passes, Reid took the ball outside the U’s triallist keeper, but he somehow missed the target.
The first shot on target came from the hosts, on fourteen minutes, but the near post effort was pushed wide for a corner.
That saw the controversial moment of the game, as the corner was eventually cleared, but not before the referee intervened.
He deemed the Raggett had handballed it in attempting the clear and he was shown the red card.
Despite both Head Coaches remonstrating with him, suggesting that it had come off Raggett’s thigh, the referee stuck to his guns, and put paid to any chance of the U’s preparing for the new season in an eleven vs eleven contest.
Reid duly scored from the spot to put Stevenage ahead, and the rest of the half saw an attack vs defence exercise that the U’s came out well in.
Patterson looked dangerous on the left wing, but is crosses were blocked at source, or cleared by U’s defenders, and his other shot was saved at the near post again.
Phillips shot well over the crossbar from the edge of the box, before Ellis Iandolo cleared a cross at the far post under extreme pressure.
The first half finished with the score still at 1-0 to Stevenage, but the only real talking point was the Raggett sending off.
A slight change in formation saw the U’s have more of the ball in the opening stages of the second period, and it looked less and less than they had a man less.
Reid shot over the bar with the host’s only effort in the first fifteen minutes of the half, before Brad Ihionvien’s shot was saved comfortably after a great bit of work repossession the ball by Milton Oni.
That came on fifty seven minutes, seconds before Iandolo tried his luck from distance as the U’s broke – the shot was on because the home keeper was well off his line, but the effort from the U’s left back went wide.
The hour mark saw the first substitutions, with Tom Smith, Sam Kuffour Jr, Jake Leake, Leon Chiwome and a Triallist entering the fray.
The Triallist was straight into the action, cutting inside and driving his right foot shot just wide of the home goal, as the U’s continued to make light work of being a man down.
Max Jolliffe, Ronnie Harvey and a final Triallist came on with twenty minutes left on the clock, with neither keeper really tested since Ihionvien’s effort.
A couple of half chances fell the hosts’ way as the clock went from seventy to eighty minutes, but Smith was untroubled in his first match minutes on his return from injury.
He was needed on eighty four minutes though, punching a cross out before blocking the resultant volley.
And the U's keeper made another couple of decent saves to keep the score at 1-0 in the final stages.