U21s Report | U’s Defeated By Ipswich

Colchester lose 3-2

frustrating evening at Park Drive saw

Ronny Nelson and Oscar Thorn find the back of the net, but it wasn’t enough for the U’s as they succumbed to a 3-2 defeat.

Colchester United U21s were taking on Ipswich Town in a Professional Development League clash at Maldon & Tiptree on Friday night.

Liam Bailey named a strong squad yet again following the U’s defeat against Chelsea four days prior with the likes of Chay Cooper, Will Greenidge, Brad Ihionvien, Jay Mingi, and Al-Amin Kazeem all starting.

Despite that, however, Colchester found themselves 1-0 down after just four minutes. Ted Collins made a phenomenal double save, but a failed clearance from one of U’s defenders following Collins’ acrobatic efforts landed at the feet of one of Ipswich’s forwards who chipped the ball into the far corner of the net.

Things got even worse for the U’s less than fifteen minutes later with Jay Mingi being shown a red card for a late and dangerous-looking tackle in the middle of the pitch.

Following the sending-off, Brad Ihionvien became the second U’s player to go into the referee’s notebook following an altercation with an Ipswich player on twenty-seven minutes.

Colchester were forced to sit off the ball for major parts of the first half relying on counter-attacks with Ihionvien up front. The forward had some good spells but was often outnumbered with the opposition eventually stealing possession.

Following one of Ihionvien’s solo efforts after thirty-three minutes, the visitors quickly moved up the pitch before crossing the ball from the left flank and putting it in the back of the net from close range.

The rest of the half saw Ipswich dominate possession with the U’s dropping back and focusing on defence with occasional trips up the pitch that should have resulted in at least one goal.

The youngsters were, however, unable to find the target and went in trailing at half-time by two goals to nil.

Bailey’s men came out for the second forty-five minutes determined to reduce the deficit. And, their determination paid off with an hour gone when Oscar Thorn’s pinpointed cross found Ronny Nelson who smashed the ball into the back of the net with a powerful header.

Three minutes later, Ipswich’s ‘keeper had to fish the ball out of his net again but luckily for the visitors, Al-Amin’s effort was ruled out for offside.

The U’s kept pushing on and despite having ten men on the pitch, they dominated possession and created more chances.

And it was only a matter of time until Colchester found the back of the net for the second time. After receiving the ball on the edge of the box, Oscar Thorn twisted and turned before catching out the ‘keeper with a low shot that found the far corner of the net.

Nonetheless, despite their continued dominance, the U’s conceded their third goal directly from a corner less than five minutes after equalising.

The contest then turned scrappy and was broken up by several nasty challenges that saw yellow cards given out to three Ipswich players.

Bailey also opted for some substitutions with Terry replacing Nelson and Kennedy replacing Thorn.

In the closing stages of the match, the visitors were frustrating the U’s by keeping the ball by the corner flag as they opted for time-wasting tactics.

In the end, it paid off with Colchester succumbing to another league defeat following a frustrating evening at Park Drive.

Colchester United Starting XI: 1. Collins, 2. Trialist, 4. Mingi, 5. Greenidge, 6. Nelson, 7. Cooper, 8. Marshall-Miranda (C), 9. Ihionvien, 10. Thorn, 11. Sandah, 14. Kazeem

Subs: 12. Oliver, 15. Kennedy, 16. Terry, 18. Green, 29. Peglar