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DC took his charges to Morecambe last Saturday in what turned into a most eventful game. I made the short journey to the Mazuma Stadium and was joined by another 199 of the faithful in a crowd of 2754. Another great day weather wise in Lancashire and the well-watered pitch was looking in good order.
I enjoyed a portion of Atkinson’s fish n chips on the sea front before the game.
DC had lined up his team as follows: Macey Goodliffe Flanagan Iandolo Egbo Payne Woodyard Bishop Edwards Tovide Taylor
Subs Anderson Gordon Read Scully Hopper Hunt Smith
My predicted line-up was almost spot on. DC played Bishop instead of Read otherwise it was in my view the best starting XI. Alarmingly Colchester made another sluggish start to the game and we fell behind to Morecambe’s first goal of the season in the 17th minute when an offside decision was missed by the assistant referee and it proved costly. So, 1-0 down and frankly we were lacklustre.
Derek Adams team were over physical however and the referee booked two of the home team in the first half. Then just before half time the lively Edwards was unceremoniously hacked down and a second booking for Luke Hendrie saw the home side reduced to ten men.
Now Colchester never play well against ten men and so we all feared the worst. But for once we made the Shrimps pay for their error and Edwards recovered to head the resultant free kick firmly past the home keeper on 43 minutes.
So, at half time the teams were level at 1-1.
Incredibly and soon after HT we took the lead after good work down the left-hand side. Samson Tovide turned smartly to convert the chance on 49 minutes.
Morecambe in truth had little answer to the U’s forward forays. It was no surprise when the hardworking Tovide made great strides down the left wing and sent a sumptuous cross for Lyle Taylor to score at the far post on 64 minutes.
The U’s were well on top and were coasting at this stage. Surely a fourth goal was only a matter of minutes away.
Now DC is never afraid to make substitutions but this was not the day to make wholesale changes. Taylor and Tovide were overpowering the Morecambe defence and we were in total control. DC however decided to start to make changes.
The lively Taylor was replaced on 69 minutes by Scully for his debut.
Arthur Read then replaced Bishop on 70 minutes. Anderson then arrived in place of Ben Goodliffe. The result was to affect the balance of the team. Worse still Edwards was taken off and replaced by Gordon on 78 minutes.
The ten men seemed to take heart from the changes and pushed up the pitch. Woodyard had a rush of blood and fouled his man on the edge of the penalty area and Jones scored the resultant spot kick on 83 minutes.
So, 3-2 and those of us that have encountered many of these 11 v 10 match ups in the past feared the worst.
Amazingly Scully was unlucky to strike the underside of the bar but the rebound bounced out to Anderson who had the easiest chance to make it 4-2 but his effort was high wide and not very handsome.
This was not the time to take Tovide off but that is what DC did on 86 minutes. Hopper arrived at a time when we needed continuity not changes. The result was that a speculative shot which was going well wide was unluckily deflected off Flanagan (resplendent in his Kit sponsored by some of the boarders) and looped agonisingly into the net for 3-3.
Momentum was suddenly with the Shrimps and an embarrassing draw could have become a disastrous defeat. The final whistle was met with some boos from the faithful and the annoyance on DC’s face could not be hidden.
Frankly this was more like a defeat than a drawn game.
Well, I suppose the EFL Trophy game against the MK Dons came at an opportune time on Tuesday evening. We could say to them can we play you every week. Our reserves won 2-1 (Scully pen and Kells) and boosted confidence ahead of the Tranmere game.
DC lined up Smith Hunt Donnelly Kells McDonnell Read Anderson Jay Gordon Scully Hopper
DC made the following subs 11 mins Egbo for Anderson, 62 mins Tovide for Hopper and Payne for Jay and on 73 mins Edwards fro McDonnell and Bendle for Scully.
So, Tranmere are in town on Saturday with Nigel Adkins bringing Chuck Norris and the dangerous Omari Patrick to the JCS.
Now home advantage should be made to count and I am going for an impressive home victory by 3-0.
But does DC make any changes:
I would go for the starting XI from last Saturday but with Read starting instead of Bishop.
Macey
Goodliffe Flanagan Iandolo
Egbo Payne Read Woodyard
Edwards Taylor Tovide
Subs: Smith Donnelly Kells McDonnell Bishop Scully Gordon
If Goodliffe is injured then Kells would start instead.
I have no problem in dropping Anderson and Hunt.
Weather in Colchester will be a warm 21 degrees Celsius and sunny.
Enjoy the game, get behind the team. Attendance could tip 5,000 with a healthy number from the Wirral.
Up the U’s
Durham_exile
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Three valuable points for the Super U's against Adkin's Rovers on 15:24 - Sep 21 with 1595 views
I was in Bristol earlier for a family lunch, so missed the first 20 minutes, but excellent result, and great to see our strikers getting the goals too. I agree the Taylor/Tovide partnership really seems to be clicking into gear, in a game that I honestly thought would be harder than it turned out. Well done too Durham on your spot-on prediction for the final score!
Three valuable points for the Super U's against Adkin's Rovers on 17:28 - Sep 21 by MarkyMark47
From less than 10 yards out in the middle of the box Taylor looks lethal.
You're missing two important pieces of that jigsaw - he has to be there in the first place, and the pass has to find him - that's what we've been missing for too long.
Great result but again we make maximum substitutions when leading with three goals. What is the purpose? Can professional footballers no longer play ninety minutes?
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Three valuable points for the Super U's against Adkin's Rovers on 17:51 - Sep 21 with 1359 views
Three valuable points for the Super U's against Adkin's Rovers on 17:40 - Sep 21 by wessex_exile
You're missing two important pieces of that jigsaw - he has to be there in the first place, and the pass has to find him - that's what we've been missing for too long.
Absolutely right Wessex
Really pleased with the partnership. Could Taylor and Tovide score 20 goals each this season.
I'm just not sure why Read doesn't start but maybe DC still has issues playing Bishop, Read, Woodyard and Payne in the same line up.
Edwards and Egbo are good news though. Embarrassment of riches. Up the U's
Durham_exile
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Three valuable points for the Super U's against Adkin's Rovers on 18:02 - Sep 21 with 1332 views
Three valuable points for the Super U's against Adkin's Rovers on 17:40 - Sep 21 by wessex_exile
You're missing two important pieces of that jigsaw - he has to be there in the first place, and the pass has to find him - that's what we've been missing for too long.
Well of course he needs to be there - that's his job!
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Three valuable points for the Super U's against Adkin's Rovers on 18:12 - Sep 21 with 1304 views
Throughly professional performance today. Now must become the standard. Showed what this squad is capable of if the consistency is there. Just get the basics right with supply of decent ball in the box to get at the end of. Congrats to Taylor in getting his hundredth league goal, took it well under pressure . One criticism, when the defence was under pressure several times the ball was given away because of not a decent call by another which could have the visitors getting back in a game they did not deserve ( gripe over ). No more false dawns please, time to progress from this .
I don't agree with the comment about the final pass being missing for a long time - look at the first few months of last season when another Taylor scored a stack of goals. Presumably he was getting decent service from other players?
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Three valuable points for the Super U's against Adkin's Rovers on 18:21 - Sep 21 with 1267 views
Three valuable points for the Super U's against Adkin's Rovers on 18:02 - Sep 21 by MarkyMark47
Well of course he needs to be there - that's his job!
Indeed, but you appear to be somewhat critical (derogatory even) of him doing his job? I don't care if he's scoring 25 yard worldies or tapping into an empty net - he still has to be in the right place at the right time to score the goals he's paid to do.
Three valuable points for the Super U's against Adkin's Rovers on 18:21 - Sep 21 by wessex_exile
Indeed, but you appear to be somewhat critical (derogatory even) of him doing his job? I don't care if he's scoring 25 yard worldies or tapping into an empty net - he still has to be in the right place at the right time to score the goals he's paid to do.
To me, he looks like a classic poacher, and there's no shame in that. Plenty of much better players have built a career scoring from close range. It's a skill that many lack and I agree that he needs to time his run and get into the right position. So my comment was intended as praise not criticism. And I thought he pressed better today as well, probably due to having had some decent game time.
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Three valuable points for the Super U's against Adkin's Rovers on 18:53 - Sep 21 with 1230 views
Three valuable points for the Super U's against Adkin's Rovers on 18:53 - Sep 21 by bwildered
And just to put a smirk on people’s faces, Stanley two up on ninety mins, could only get a draw this week !
[Post edited 21 Sep 18:54]
....and the Lancs plod still haven't been able to confirm that there's 'no case to answer'. I guess that's been buried in the mountain of unsolved cases, never to be heard of again.
Elsewhere, at half-time agent Szmodics was doing fine work ensuring the Binners didn’t score, whilst Wolves and Everton where leading, putting the Farmers in their rightful place, rock bottom of the Prem. Sadly it didn’t last, but there’s always next week.
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Three valuable points for the Super U's against Adkin's Rovers on 19:52 - Sep 21 with 1159 views
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