Colchester United drew 2-2 away from home against Shrewsbury Town in the Sky Bet League Two on Saturday afternoon.
A Moses Sesay double at either end of the match secured the point for the U’s as Luca Hoole cancelled out his opener and Isaac Fletcher had put the hosts in the lead at the Croud Meadow with just minutes left, but a clinical finish by Sesay found a leveller.
A change in line-up and formation saw Danny and Nicky Cowley start with Thimothée Lo-Tutala in goal, Ellis Iandolo, Sean Raggett, Jack Tucker, and Rob Hunt in defence, Jay Williams and Jack Payne in midfield, with Harry Anderson and Moses Sesay playing wide, and opting for two up front with Kylian Kouassi and Bradley Ihionvien, with the latter appearing against the team he spent the 2025/26 season on loan at.
The first chance of the match fell Colchester United’s way. As Kouassi proved once again how effective he is at holding the ball up and bringing teammates into play, the striker played the ball right for Sesay to run onto.
Dribbling into the box and turning his marker inside out, Sesay brought the ball onto his left foot and curled an effort towards the far post, bending wide by less than a foot.
But Sesay continued to trouble the Salops’ defence, culminating with the Southampton-loanee scoring the opening goal about 10 minutes later.
Ihionvien showed some tenacious play to win the ball off Shrewsbury inside the centre circle and then release Sesay down the right wing. Unbalancing two defenders and cutting across another, Sesay fired a shot into the bottom-right corner of the goal from the edge of the box.
Shrewsbury found their equaliser roughly midway through the first half. After Lo-Tutala made a good save to tip a header over the bar, Luca Hoole found enough space to guide a header into the bottom-left of the goal from the resulting corner kick.
Lo-Tutala produced some fantastic saves to keep the U’s level as the half progressed, including tipping a header by George Lloyd over the bar which unfortunately resulted in both Lloyd and Iandolo requiring treatment for head injuries. Thankfully, both returned to the pitch unscathed.
It was a tight affair following the half-time break. Neither side found their rhythm with the referee blowing his whistle for a lot of small fouls.
The U’s thought they had worked Sesay into a dangerous position inside Shrewsbury’s box just after the 60-minute mark, but the assistant referee flagged for an offside.
Sesay again looked like he would be the one to produce a moment of magic. With Oscar Thorn and Beryly Lubala being brought on to replace Ihionvien and Anderson, the former collected the ball in the middle of the park and played Sesay down the line.
A bit of quick thinking saw Sesay take a touch inside while his marker was off-balance and drive into the box. He dragged his shot just wide of the near post.
Kouassi looked poised to give the U’s the lead after Thorn made a commanding run down the right and reached the by-line before cutting the ball back, but the striker struggled to control his shot and sent the ball over the crossbar.
In the 93rd minute, the hosts took the lead. Lloyd broke down the right wing and, with no options ahead of him, took a timid shot at Lo-Tutala. Unfortunately, the goalkeeper misjudged the ball and it bounced off his chest and into the path of Isaac Fletcher to turn home, thinking he had secured three points for Shrewsbury.
However, with the U’s pushing determinedly for an equaliser, Sesay once again showed his quality. Thorn did well to get the by-line with the box loaded. Seeing Sesay pull away, he cut a pass back and Sesay arrowed a shot into the top left corner, just as he threatened so many times throughout the match.
Sesay’s second of the match saw the U’s pick up a point on the road as the U’s head into next week with a break of League Two football with the visit of League One side and current holders Luton Town in the Jersey Mike’s Trophy.
Starting XI
Lo-Tutala, Iandolo, Raggett, Tucker, Hunt, J.Williams, Payne, Anderson (73’), Sesay, Ihionvien (73’), Kouassi (90’).
Subs