[ 19 Sep 15 ] Colchester v GILLS Match Thread

[fan_of_mulligan]

My Thoughts on Colchester United V Gillingham On Saturday...................

Other then Jordan Houghton starting in place for Jake Hessenthaler I had got Gillingham's Team Selection spot on, but I was still surprised to see Jermaine McGlashan not named among the substitutes bench despite the fact that Jermaine McGlashan doesn't fit into our current system, if we needed a substitute to change the match in Gillingham's Favour then Jermaine McGlashan is usually the player who can come on for Gillingham for the final 15 - 20 minutes and make an impact.

FIRST HALF...............

And Gillingham could of scored as early as the second minute of the match as Jamie Jones long kick down-field is won by Max Ehmer and Luke Norris flicks the ball on into Cody McDonald's path, who goes past Frankie Kent and then uses his pace to cut inside past Matthew Briggs and Cody McDonald's low shot towards the bottom left corner of the net hit the outside of the post and if only that had gone in, that move signalled that Cody McDonald looked much fitter and much sharper as he couldn't even go past Emerson Boyce in Blackpool's Defence the week before, and that would of been the perfect start to the match had Gillingham opened the scoring with that chance.

A minute later and Marvin Sordell has hit a dipping volley from a acute angle which has gone over Stuart Nelson's crossbar, but Gillingham didn't take any notice of that warning as the hosts took the lead in what was a explosive start to this match after just four minutes, Max Ehmer plays a long ball down-field which Luke Norris flicks on into Bradley Dack's path but Owen Garvan and Joe Edwards combined to shut Bradley Dack out and Joe Edwards plays the ball out-wide to Callum Harriott, who plays the ball through to George Moncur and it needed John Egan to slide in and kick the ball into touch to prevent Colchester United for getting at Gillingham on the counter attack.

But Gillingham came close to scoring from the resulting throw on as Jordan Houghton and Bradley Dack combined to intercept the ball and Bradley Dack's through-ball to Cody McDonald was cut out, but Colchester United were able to score and hit Gillingham on the counter attack as Matthew Briggs long ball up-field which was initially won by Max Ehmer, but Josh Wright and Jordan Houghton both lose out to Callum Harriott who was quick to the loose ball and Brennan Dickenson was drawn inside and Callum Harriott played the ball to the left side of Gillingham's Penalty Area to Gavin Massey who took a touch and cooly placed the ball into the bottom right corner of the net past Stuart Nelson to give Colchester United the lead, and having almost gone through at the other end of the pitch, Colchester United showed how quickly they can counter attack on Gillingham's defence by scoring the opening goal of the game, and Colchester United are 1-0 up at The Weston Homes Community Stadium.

But the scores were level just three minutes later at 1-1 as Luke Norris scores his third goal of the season, Jamie Jones long kick down-field is won by John Egan and Cody McDonald wins the flick on and Luke Norris takes a touch to go past Frankie Kent and Luke Norris places the ball past Jamie Jones into the bottom left corner of the net for 1-1 and that was a very composed finish from the young striker and the celebrations in the away end were something to savour - GET IN THERE Was my response, and what a time for Gillingham to score as well and this game could of been 2-2 after the first eight minutes because Marvin Sordell had that volley that went over and Cody McDonald had hit the post - I drew Ryan Jackson in The Goal-Scorers Draw on The Supporters Coach and unless Ryan Jackson throws the ball into the back of the net from a throw on then I wasn't expecting to see him score, let along score the first goal of the match.

Ten Minutes into the match and Colchester United should of had a player sent off and gone down to ten men, because Kane Vincent-Young should of walked for his challenge on Bradley Dack and it doesn't matter if that challenge was made just ten minutes into the match or ten minutes remaining until full time, if you lunge in with two legs in the way Kane Vincent-Young did then your asking to be sent off, I was also not happy with the way Referee Charles Breakspear officiated this match as there were some questionable decisions throughout the match, but poor defending was the main reason Gillingham lost against Colchester United on Saturday, The Officials were poor, but the defending at times was woeful.

Sixteen Minutes into the match and Gillingham nearly turned the match on it's head and take the lead, some lackadaisical play saw Jamie Jones take a eternity to kick the ball and Cody McDonald managed to divert Jamie Jones clearance into Luke Norris's path and Luke Norris control's the ball and goes round the outside and Luke Norris's shot on target is saved unconvincingly by Jamie Jones and Owen Garvan just kicks the ball up into the air and the ball somehow spins back into play and doesn't go out, and Gillingham keep the ball in play and keep the possession nicely without causing Colchester United too many problems defensively.

Gillingham picked up two bookings in a six minute spell and Josh Wright's challenge on George Moncur was a bookable offence but I was disappointed to see Brennan Dickenson shown a yellow card and with Gavin Massey on the right side of the pitch you just worry that Brennan Dickenson is one challenge away from being shown a second yellow card and being sent off, Three yellow cards have been shown inside the opening twenty three minutes of the game (eight in total) and yet, other then the challenge from Kane Vincent-Young, I didn't think Colchester United V Gillingham was a dirty game, it was a physical match played very competitively, but was Saturday's Match a game that deserved to see eight bookings ??? not for me and this is where Charles Breakspear's lack of experience as a referee shows as he showed that early yellow card (although it should of been a red for Kane Vincent-Young) and Charles Breakspear had to show yellow cards for the following fouls from then onwards.

A scrappy spell saw Gavin Massey get a shot on target for the hosts as neither team were willing to retain possession of the ball for very long with high pressing and a bit of head tennis ensuring that the ball spent plenty of time in the air, eventually Jordan Houghton clear's the ball but only as far to Owen Garvan who's high ball into the air meant that Josh Wright and Matthew Briggs allowed the ball to bounce and Matthew Briggs headered the ball inside to George Moncur, who played the ball back to Marvin Sordell, who played the ball outside to Gavin Massey, and with Brennan Dickenson on a booking he couldn't dive in so Gavin Massey uses his pace to go past Brennan Dickenson and his shot on target saw Stuart Nelson stretching, but Stuart Nelson was able to hang on to the ball.

You had to praise Colchester United's attacking threat as Callum Harriott, Gavin Massey and Marvin Sordell provide Colchester United with so much pace and width and that front three will cause any League One Side problems defensively, and George Moncur is able to play some brilliant passes and that front four is probably one of the best front four's in the division, defensively you can cause Colchester United problems, but attacking wise it is hardly surprising that Colchester United had scored eleven goals from there opening seven league games prior to this match kicking off.

George Moncur is booked for the home side and Brennan Dickenson and Jordan Houghton have both conceded free kick's in Gillingham's Third Of The Pitch and this really has been a stop and start match with Referee Charles Breakspear blowing his whistle on more then one occasion, but it is from this resulting free kick in The Twenty Seventh Minute which saw Colchester United re-take the lead and I was furious with the way Colchester United were allowed to score and the defending was dreadful, Joe Edwards plays the ball out-wide to Matthew Briggs and Luke Norris tries to shield the ball out of play for a goal-kick, but Matthew Briggs manages to keep the ball in play right by the corner flag and holds the ball up, Matthew Briggs somehow manages a Cruyff Turn to go past Luke Norris and there was confusion as one of Ryan Jackson and Doug Loft should of got to the ball first but Goerge Moncur has the ball by the byline, squares the ball to Matthew Briggs and The Colchester United Left Back plays the ball back to Callum Harriott who takes a touch and then smashes the ball on the half volley into the far right corner of the net.

Luke Norris should of kicked the ball into touch instead of attempting to shield the ball out of play, Matthew Briggs should never be allowed to go past Luke Norris on the byline, three players were all drawn to the ball and Gillingham had 5-6 chances to clear the ball or at the very least remain organised and be compact and don't give Colchester United the opportunities they had to get a shot off on goal, the defending was really poor from Gillingham and there is no way we should be conceding a goal when Matthew Briggs has the ball on the byline and that is precisely what Gillingham have done - we now need to re-group and go again because there was defiantly more goals in this match.

[fan_of_mulligan]

Seven Minutes later and Gillingham are awarded a penalty in controversial circumstances, Brennan Dickenson's throw on down the left side of the pitch is thrown to Bradley Dack and the two players combine nicely down the left flank and Brennan Dickenson's cross is flicked on by Luke Norris and hits a Colchester United Player, but I wasn't sure at the time and even the highlights don't show conclusive evidence of a hand-ball, the highlights do show Luke Norris, Cody McDonald, Doug Loft and Brennan Dickenson appealing for a penalty, but players would appeal for anything and everything if it meant decisions were given in there favour, and Gillingham had been given a fantastic opportunity to equalise for the second time at The Weston Homes Community Stadium.

Up stepped Cody McDonald, and you have to say that the penalty kick from Cody McDonald was poor as it was basically hit straight at Jamie Jones who has made back to back penalty saves in successive league matches and Colchester United preserve there slender 2-1 advantage, but the score-line should be 2-2, I know from the highlights Jamie Jones is off his line, but if Cody McDonald sticks the ball into the back of the net then we wouldn't be talking about that and the score-line would be level at 2-2 with the rest of the first half and the entire second half remaining to find a winning goal, but that penalty miss was a big moment and of course it was a moment we were talking about on The Supporters Coach on the way home as well - why didn't Bradley Dack take the penalty was what a few Gillingham Supporters were asking ???

Callum Harriott and Bradley Dack go into The Referee's Notebook as five players were booked in the opening forty five minutes of the match, and again I am not convinced this was a match where eight players deserved to be booked and I was convinced that Gillingham would be fined £10,000 had five players been shown yellow cards (Brennan Dickenson, Bradley Dack, Josh Wright and Ryan Jackson were the four Gillingham Players booked on Saturday) - with Goerge Moncur and Callum Harriott booked for the home side, and Kane Vincent-Young very lucky to still be on the pitch for his dreadful challenge on Bradley Dack.

The end of the first half was very action packed as Ryan Jackson nearly picked out Cody McDonald with a fantastic ball over the top, but Jamie Jones was off his line quickly to clear the ball away from danger and two teasing crosses from Callum Harriott and Gavin Massey needed to be cleared by Josh Wright and Brennan Dickenson respectively, Brennan Dickenson had to shin the ball away from danger as Callum Harriott's cross just looped over Max Ehmer's head, and Stuart Nelson made an excellent save at his near post to deny Callum Harriott from extending Colchester United's lead as the hosts were looking to add to the score-line before the break as the final five minutes of the first half were just as explosive as the first five minutes of the match.

HALF TIME: COLCHESTER UNITED 2 - 1 GILLINGHAM

I was writing down my notes at half time on chances created, the bookings during the match, the goals scored by Gavin Massey, Callum Harriott and Luke Norris, the missed penalty from Cody McDonald and how Kane Vincent-Young should of been sent off for his challenge on Bradley Dack, as well as the goals scored, the chances created throughout the match was proof of just how open and how end to end The Colchester United V Gillingham Match was, and the score-line could of been 3-3 at half time - especially if Cody McDonald scored in the first minute and scored from the penalty spot.

I also thought that with Josh Wright, Brennan Dickenson and Bradley Dack all booked in the first half and with the way Referee Charles Breakspear was awarding yellow cards through-out the first half, that at least one of those players needed to be substituted, I thought Brennan Dickenson was the most likely player to come off with Bradley Garmston the player to come on and I even wrote that in my notepad at half time.

Another possible substitution was to replace either Luke Norris or Cody McDonald and look to bring on Aaron Morris and play him at centre back with Aaron Morris, John Egan and Max Ehmer in defence, Ryan Jackson and Brennan Dickenson as wing backs with Doug Loft and Josh Wright in the middle of midfield and Bradley Dack playing behind Cody McDonald and Luke Norris to try and go five verses five in midfield and keep with the two strikers up top.

[fan_of_mulligan]

SECOND HALF......

At the start of The Second Half and I don't think anyone was surprised to see Bradley Garmston on to replace Brennan Dickenson considering that Brennan Dickenson was one of five players to have been shown yellow cards in the first half, and that tally increased to six yellow cards in The Fifty First Minute as Ryan Jackson was cautioned for his challenge on Callum Harriott and one more booking would of seen Gillingham fined £10,000 by The FA, but it wasn't just being fined that we were worried about, I was also concerned that Ryan Jackson, Josh Wright and Bradley Dack could be shown second bookable offences and at least one of those three would of been sent off.

Fifty Three Minutes into the match and Gillingham had a fantastic opportunity to equalise, Bradley Garmston's throw on to Bradley Dack is intercepted by Joe Edwards and Callum Harriott plays a horrendous back pass into Jordan Houghton's path, and the young midfielder's first touch is heavy and Jordan Houghton takes the ball round Jamie Jones and that effort was saved and The Colchester United Goalkeeper saved the follow up effort from Cody McDonald - what a chance to equalise for The Gills and if only that effort had hit the back of the net.

Joe Edwards and George Moncur have hit long range efforts which have failed to hit the target, and if The First Half was end to end with goal-scoring chances galore, Then The Second Half has been poor in comparison and other then that double save from Jamie Jones to deny Jordan Houghton and Cody McDonald, there hasn't been a lot to talk about and the lack of goal-scoring opportunities explains why Justin Edinburgh made a double substitution after sixty three minutes as Rory Donnelly and Jake Hessenthaler are brought on for Cody McDonald and Josh Wright, Josh Wright is on a booking and you can understand why he was substituted, but I was a little disappointed that Justin Edinburgh didn't change the system as those substitutions were like for like - obviously the 4.4.2 diamond midfield formation has worked so well for Gillingham this season, but KFG made the point that these were the ideal scenario's where we could do with Jermaine McGlashan on the bench, someone who can come on with 20 - 25 minutes to go and use his pace to cause Colchester United's defence a lot of problems.

But Rory Donnelly coming on after sixty three minutes means that we can see what he can do for the remaining twenty seven minutes plus stoppage time during the game and if ever there was a match you wanted to see Rory Donnelly score his first goal for Gillingham, then it was this match against Colchester United.

Referee Charles Breakspear was irritating The 1,171 Gillingham Supporters in The Weston Homes Community Stadium as he awarded fouls against Rory Donnelly, Jake Hessenthaler and Max Ehmer, the only real talking point was Callum Harriott's effort on goal which failed to hit the target and it was getting ridiculous with some of the questionable decisions that Colchester United were getting and with the game being constantly stop and start, it is difficult to up the tempo and increase the urgency when The Referee is awarding free kicks every 2-3 minutes, and you can see that the number of breaks in play was starting to frustrate a number of players wearing a Gillingham Shirt, and Justin Edinburgh was furious in the technical area as well.

Colchester United have created a succession of goal-scoring incidents in the same spell and it is backs against the walls defending for Gillingham because if Colchester United were to score a third goal then it would be game over, And Colchester United's five verses four in midfield is causing Gillingham a lot of problems because Doug Loft's up and under clearance is won by Joe Edwards in the middle of midfield, Callum Harriott wins the second ball and plays the ball forward to Marvin Sordell, and The Colchester United Striker controls the ball on the half turn and his shot on target is deflected out of play off Max Ehmer for a corner kick, the resulting corner kick was taken by Gavin Massey and Gavin Massey's in-swinging corner kick to the far post is headered across goal by Marvin Sordell and Doug Loft wins the first header, but Joe Edwards gets to the second ball first and his shot on target is blocked by John Egan and Doig Loft gets the ball away from danger, But within two passes Colchester United were back in Gillingham's third of the pitch and Matthew Briggs has the ball down the right touch-line and Ryan Jackson and Jordan Houghton just about do enough to get the ball clear and away from danger, and it just felt like it was only a matter of time before Colchester United were going to add a third goal and wrap up all three points.

The home side then had two excellent crossing opportunities to score the goal which should seal the win for Colchester United, a succession of passes after a bit of head tennis saw George Moncur, Joe Edwards and Owen Garvan combine nicely in the middle of midfield, Owen Garvan and George Moncur then played a 1-2 and Owen Garvan switched the play to Kane Vincent-Young and The Colchester United Right Back whips in a fantastic cross which almost picks out Marvin Sordell at the far post, but Kane Vincent-Young's cross goes out of play for a goal-kick, with Owen Garvan, Joe Edwards and George Moncur in the middle, Gavin Massey and Callum Harriott on both flanks and Marvin Sordell up-front, I think Justin Edinburgh had to start considering a tactical change with the personal on the pitch, and I personally thought that John Egan, Max Ehmer and Doug Loft should play at centre back with Ryan Jackson and Bradley Garmston at full back, Jake Hessenthaler and Jordan Houghton in the middle of midfield with Bradley Dack playing behind Luke Norris and Rory Donnelly - I just felt that Gillingham needed to try and do something to get ourselves back into the game.

Another in-swinging corner kick from Gavin Massey to the far post is won in the air by Frankie Kent, Gillingham's Defence allows the ball to bounce inside our penalty area and George Moncur has possession of the ball, and he manages to play the ball out-wide to Frankie Kent who chips in a fantastic cross which only just goes over Marvin Sordell's head and goes out of play for a goal-kick, defensively Gillingham have been poor in several aspects and Colchester United deserved to be 3-4 goals up by now, but there is still an chance for Gillingham to leave The Weston Homes Community Stadium with a point.

And we had several chances to get that equaliser, Bradley Dack headered Ryan Jackson's cross goal-wards which was saved by Jamie Jones, Luke Norris's free kick on the edge of Colchester United's Penalty Area was deflected out of play for a corner kick and from that resulting corner kick, Max Ehmer headers over the crossbar as Bradley Dack's in-swinging corner kick is aimed towards the back-stick, and Ryan Jackson goes on a fantastic run down the right flank as Doug Loft does well to find Ryan Jackson on the far side and Ryan Jackson's low cross is behind everyone, but Bradley Dack manages to spin on the half turn and his shot on target is deflected over the crossbar for a corner kick, when I thought that Jamie Jones had made a fantastic save at the time.

Darren Ambrose and Alex Gilbey are substituted on for Callum Harriott and George Moncur as the home side are looking to hold on to there slender advantage, and these substitutions were made in the Seventy Ninth and Eighty Third Minutes respectively, In-between those two substitutions Ryan Jackson's long throw down the right side of the pitch see's John Egan's glancing header go just wide of Jamie Jones right hand post and a stronger header would of seen Gillingham equalise, and there was huge controversy as Jamie Jones clearly handled the ball outside his penalty area and I couldn't believe that The Linesman down the far side nor Referee Charles Breakspear couldn't see that was a blatant hand-ball, I am not suggesting that Jamie Jones deserved to be sent off, but a booking and a free kick in a promising position on the pitch would of been the correct decision in my opinion.

[fan_of_mulligan]

Gillingham threw the kitchen sink at Colchester United to try and grab a equaliser, great play from Ryan Jackson to skip past Matthew Briggs and play the ball inside to Jordan Houghton, and Jordan Houghton almost picks Rory Donnelly out at the far post with a fantastic pass but Kane Vincent-Young makes a last ditch clearance, and from the resulting corner kick, Jake Hessenthaler's corner kick to the far post is headered across the face of goal by John Egan and Max Ehmer's header is saved by Jamie Jones, and the chance is still alive as John Egan keeps the ball in play and John Egan plays the ball back to Ryan Jackson who plays the ball inside to Doug Loft and Loft shapes up to shoot, skips past one Colchester United player before clipping the ball to the far post and Rory Donnelly couldn't get a strong enough connection on the ball and Colchester United clear there lines.

I was disappointed with just three additional minutes of stoppage time being shown considering that four substitutions were made during The Second Half and there were a number of stoppages in play and Jamie Jones wasted time from every goal-kick, the only real chance of note for either team was Rory Donnelly's dipping volley from the edge of Colchester United's Penalty Area which failed to hit the target and after the three additional minutes had been played, Colchester United won by two goals to one and Gillingham had lost there first League One Match of the season.

FULL TIME: COLCHESTER UNITED 2 - 1 GILLINGHAM

The big talking point was Cody McDonald not scoring from the penalty spot because had that gone in for 2-2 and with the match still being in The First Half then this could of been a completely different game, Jamie Jones handling outside the penalty area was a controversial moment during the match, but Kane Vincent-Young should of walked for his challenge on Bradley Dack and that was probably the only really bad challenge made during the game, and somehow Referee Charles Breakspeaar has shown seven yellow cards, Colchester United V Gillingham was combative, competitive and played in the right way as both teams gave it there all, there was one challenge that deserved a sending off, but other then that there wasn't any malicious, nasty or disgusting challenges made during the game, and Referee's do use the yellow card as a way of showing authority on a football field, a much stronger referee would of gave warnings and look to control the match and not get caught up in the occasion, and too many referee's are getting basic decisions wrong and this is happening on a weekly basis regardless if we win, draw or lose.

Me, Diane and KFG spoke at length about various decisions during the match and we spoke about the penalty incident, but KFG couldn't hang around and speak for too long as he was getting a lift, Diane was going back to her car and we were going to speak about possible travel arrangements for The Barnsley Game on Saturday, and I made my way back to The Supporters Coach and as soon as I was back on the coach I started to tweet about the penalty miss from Cody McDonald, how Cody McDonald will need another 2-3 starting appearances to get back to full fitness and how impressed I was with Gavin Massey, Marvin Sordell, Callum Harriott and George Moncur, because Marvin Sordell, Gavin Massey and Callum Harriott have got so much pace between the three of them and Goerge Moncur can play some fantastic through-balls for these three to run on to, and with that front four I think Colchester United can push for a lower mid-table position this season, 16 goals conceded is proof that Colchester United are poor defensively, but 13 goals scored is also proof that they have the firepower to score enough goals to stay in this division, and I do think Colchester United will stay up at the very least.

One thing that disappointed me is that we didn't put one of Max Ehmer or John Egan up-front with 10 - 15 minutes to go, we did that at the very end of the game, but I think we should of gone all out to try and score and equalise for 2-2 even if it meant losing 3-1, I felt that Gillingham needed to go direct and knock it long and try and force a equaliser but we only really did that right at the very end of the match.

But at the same-time, If someone said to me at the start of the season that Gillingham would pick up seventeen points from our opening eight league games then I would of gladly taken that considering that Gillingham have played against Sheffield United, Wigan Athletic, Bradford City, Peterborough United and Doncaster Rovers in the opening eight league games of the season as I was looking to put The Colchester United defeat into prospective, even though it was very disappointing to be losing against Colchester United, but it was nice to see Burton Albion, Walsall, Gillingham, Rochdale and Bury in the top six in League One rather then seeing Sheffield United and Swindon Town up there again.

At least it didn't take long to get back home and I was back in-doors at 7.30PM, so disappointing to lose our first league game of the season, but the challenge now is to bounce back and win against Barnsley on Saturday, if Gillingham do bounce back and win at the weekend, then we would be showing our promotion credentials, as the top teams are the one's who bounce back from a defeat and win there next league match.