[ 21 Jan 23 ] Colchester Utd v GILLS Match Thread

[Garawa]

- The Gills and Colchester have won 30 meetings each and a further 27 games have been drawn. The Gills have won 1 of the last 4 whilst Utd have won 2. The Gills were the last home side to win in December 2015 and 4 of the last 5 meetings have been won by the away side (2 each).
- The Gills have won their last 2 visits to Colchester, both in the Football League Trophy. In the league, the Gills have lost 5 of their last 6 visits - the other game being their last league win there in December 2014.
- Colchester have won 4 of their last 5 league matches after winning just 1 of the 12 before in all competitions. 3 of those recent wins have come away to fellow relegation battlers Gillingham, Harrogate and Rochdale and followed a spell of 6 defeats in 7 in all competitions.
- Colchester have won all of their last 3 away games but at home in all competitions they have won 2, drawn 2 and lost 2 of their last 6. Their most recent home game saw a win against Swindon.
- Colchester have played 33 league and cup games this season, 3 fewer that the Gills. They have lost 17 of those 33 compared with the Gills 16 defeats in 36. They have lost 14 in the league, only Rochdale (16) have lost more.
- Colchester have taken a lead in all 6 of their last 6 home league games after managing none in the 4 before them. Home and away, they have taken 6 leads in their last 5 league games. The Gills have taken 4 leads all season with their only away lead lasting for just 7 minutes.

(15.01) Kick Off [ 4 - 1 - 3 - 2 ]

(15.10) Jefferies drives through the midfield and takes it past a couple of Colchester players but a touch too many means he cannot get past the final man and the attack is cleared.

(15.18) Akinde gets away and through on goal. He gets a cross in which narrowly evades the Gills goal but its too close to goal for a Colchester attacker to tap in.

(15.30) Tchamadeu, scorer of the only goal at Priestfield in the reverse fixture at Christmas, has the first shot of the match shooting into the side netting.

(15.33) An Ehmer mistake allows Colchester to come forward. He forces the attacker onto his wrong foot which allows Wright to block. The corner bounces around and goes for a goal kick.

(15.37) GOAL! Colchester United 0-1 Gillingham: Tutonda

(15.40) A Colchester ball is whipped in to the far post for an easy tap in but Wright clears first.

(15.45) Akinde goes down inside the box. 3 sides of the ground appeal for a penalty but the referee says no.

(15.48) Jefferies drives at the defence and gets a shot away under pressure from 2 defenders and wins a corner which Gills score from.

(15.48) GOAL! Colchester United 0-2 Gillingham: Nichols

(15.49) Half time 0-2

(16.04) The second half kicks off.

(16.18) Colchester come forward and Tutonda puts off Tchamadeu as he attempts to find a cross. He runs out of space and it's a goal-kick.

(16.39) Colchester have been the brighter side without troubling Morris much as the Gills control their lead well. United though have a good shot deflect wide for a corner.

(16.48) Morris pulls off a great save which needed quick reactions and strong hands to parry away.

(16.54) FULL TIME 0-2

Attendance: 5,435 (1,203)
Position: 23rd
Referee: Alan Young
Match highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOGZFE8ZsQQ
BBC Match Report: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64272616

[gillsfan1066]

AND AND whats happening, did we kick off the second half, was was the game called off due to a frozen pitch ? Sorry I guess the excitement got to much for you with the Gills winning at the half and Mrs G up there in the bedroom asking your opinion about her 2023 bikini collection for when you go on your all expensive paid trip to see Mr.B down under ,when he wins for the 35th time in a row, and it was all just too much for you to come back to commentate on the second half. CORR you lucky guy you Go Gills.

[Garawa]

Been a very quiet second half it seems. Gills just containing them enough I think.

[gillsfan1066]

Oh OK your back downstairs, that smile is because of the Gills still winning or , never mind. So were now going against what we did in the first half and just trying to defend, come on you Gills you need some big wins to get up that table and get our fans exited. Go Gills.

[CadburyMan]

I'll settle for a 2 - 0 every week

[Garawa]

It was a lot more Colchester in the second half. The stats will say they had a lot more attempts at goal in the second half but in truth, our defence dealt with it well. Their twitter account were appealing for 3 "clear" penalties but if any of those were given, there would be several every game. This is a resurgent Colchester with good new signings like us so this score is very impressive and makes up for their win at ours recently.

[Gills in Spain]

Was just great to watch and so many gills fans travelled to cheer on the team. Bit of a butt clencher during some of the second half but just so pleased to finally see some results 2-0, 2-1, or even 1-0 I dont care as long as it 3 points to The Gills

[Garawa]

Hello Gills in Spain, welcome to the board. It was certainly a solid game which we would easily have lost not long ago. It feels forever since we were able to show some quality to get a win against opponents in form.