The north Essex outfit have gradually been improving their League One position over the past couple of years, and under Phil Parkinson, formerly assistant manager at Reading, they were guided to their best ever finish in the old Second Division in 2003/4. In addition to that they reached the fifth round of the FA Cup (losing to Sheffield United at Bramall Lane) and the area final of the LDV Vans Trophy, where the Shrimpers defeated them 4-3 on aggregate after winning 3-2 at Layer Road.
Had Blues tackled Col U after the first five games of the season – ironically exactly when the draw for the first round of the LDV was made, then they would have done so with some trepidation. Colchester had won four of their first League five matches, scoring 13 goals in the process, and beating Stockport County (3-2), Peterborough United (2-1) and Doncaster Rovers (4-1) at their run-down home. By contrast, Steve Tilson’s men had a solitary, but important, win over Macclesfield Town in the same period.
That form, which saw the U’s trailing only runaway leaders Luton Town in the race for the inaugural League One title, has thankfully for the Seasiders, ebbed away somewhat, although they still managed a shock seven days ago when a sub-standard Premiership West Bromwich Albion were seen off by two goals to one in extra time in the Carling Cup to set up a trip to Southampton’s Friends Provident St. Mary’s Stadium next month. In the League, the last two home games have ended in 1-0 defeats to Milton Keynes Dons and Swindon Town, whilst on Saturday they could muster simply a 1-1 draw with Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park.
Coca-Cola League One |
07/08/04: Sheffield Wednesday (a) W3-0 (Fagan, Stockley, Keith) 10/08/04: Stockport County (h) W3-2 (Watson, Andrews, Fagan) 14/08/04: Peterborough United (h) W2-1 (Andrews [p], Ireland [og]) 21/08/04: Chesterfield (a) L1-2 (Johnson) 28/08/04: Doncaster Rovers (h) W4-1 (Fagan, Johnson, Halford, Keith) 30/08/04: Hartlepool United (a) L1-2 (Keith) 04/09/04: Swindon Town (h) L0-1 11/09/04: AFC Bournemouth (a) W3-1 (Fagan, Williams, May) 18/09/04: Milton Keynes Dons (h) L0-1 25/09/04: Oldham Athletic (a) D1-1 (Halford)
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FA Cup |
First Round draw yet to take place |
Carling Cup |
24/08/04: R1 – Cheltenham Town (h) W2-1 (Fagan, Johnson) 21/09/04: R2 – West Bromwich Albion (h) W2-1 [aet] (Fagan, May) 26/10/04: R3 – Southampton (a)
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LDV Vans Trophy |
29/09/04: R1 – Southend United (h) |
2004/5 Records |
Matches Played: 12 (7 home, 5 away) Matches Won: 7 (5 home, 2 away) Matches Drawn: 1 (0 home, 1 away) Matches Lost: 4 (2 home, 2 away) Goals Scored: 22 (13 home, 9 away) Goals Conceded: 14 (8 home, 6 away)
Aidan Davidson, Joe Keith - 12 Greg Halford – 11+1 Wayne Brown, Liam Chilvers, Craig Fagan, Kevin Watson - 11
Craig Fagan – 6 Gavin Johnson, Joe Keith – 3 Wayne Andrews, Greg Halford, Ben May – 2 |
Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com