Colchester United 0-1 Crawley Town

Colchester United 0-1 Crawley Town
Sky Bet League Two
Saturday 18th September 2021

After 18 years, 942 competitive games in England and having spent too much money to even want to consider contemplating, this was the day when I finally realised my long-harboured ambition to visit every stadium in the Premier/Football League.

Having already been to the new grounds at AFC Wimbledon and Brentford in recent weeks then I'd consciously made the decision to leave Colchester United until last - mainly because it's been the only one which has been elusive to me for about the past six or seven seasons.

Despite being forewarned that the stadium was a bland and boring out-of-town new build, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as expected. Granted, it's a 35-40 minute trek from the railway station (albeit along a straight road), a pub en route plus bright sunshine made the walk quite enjoyable. The facilities were decent and spacious enough (a far cry from those found at Layer Road), the lack of a decent crowd ensured there was plenty of space to move around and get comfortable whilst the gaps in the corners between the four stands also offered a pleasant backdrop. In my view, it's a far better stadium than a bland new-build 'bowl' which is found at quite a few places, though everyone will have their own individual thoughts as to what constitutes a nice stadium.

Getting a ticket wasn't as straightforward as it ought to have been and that's because Colchester operate a weird policy whereby 'match permits' (as the club describes them) fluctuate in price dependant on how early in advance you buy one. Each stand has multiple prices and you're also forced to complete a 'Health Declaration' a few days beforehand in order to actually obtain your physical ticket - even if you've purchased one many weeks in advance. To an outsider, it seems a long, overly-complicated and bizarre 'wango fango' procedure and why they can't just have a single price for each stand - irrespective of when you buy, is stupid.

One bonus is that a programme is included in the ticket price but for an adult who'll be charged upwards of £25 if they buy on a matchday, it's hardly good value for money. Altogether, it's no surprise in my opinion that attendances figures have dwindled to the point where they're now regularly at their lowest levels since the stadium opened in 2008.

Colchester's problems are also apparent on the pitch too as they were comfortably beaten by the better team and looked poor in attack - a statement which can be backed up by the fact they've struggled for goals in the early weeks of the new season.

Despite getting a few attempts on target and having a few periods of promising pressure, they didn't force Crawley 'keeper Glenn Morris into a meaningful full-stretch save, or really difficult save, or anything which was actually that troublesome. Frank Nouble was punished harshly by the referee on more than one occasion by virtue of just being a big, bustling target man but they had nobody who made the runs that you'd expect an out-and-out regular goalscorer to make and it was all a bit too blunt and predictable. Freddie Sears offered not much to write home about despite having a reputation which suggests he should be one of the better players in the U's ranks.

Jack Payne got what proved to be the only goal early on for Crawley, though John Yems' team ought to have doubled that lead given some of the situations they found themselves in as the game wore on.

Having weathered an early storm during which Colchester had four corners inside the opening 10 minutes - the last of which was actually a woeful short-corner routine where the ball never even made into the box at the first attempt, the visitors then went ahead on 22 minutes. Will Ferry burst down the right and made Charlie Daniels look stupid by nut-megging him before squaring a pass for Payne who was unmarked and slotted low into the bottom corner.

The U's fans weren't happy as they watched their side toil in their attempts to build up a head of steam. Crawley looked comfortable and were much better at finding space and working the ball into good areas and both Nick Tsaroulla and Ferry went close with further chances before the half-time interval.

Now attacking towards their own fans, Colchester did 'up the ante' after the re-start yet on only one occasion did they put together a piercing move which penetrated the backline though Nouble's subsequent shot was easily kept out by Morris. The U's did enjoy other bits and pieces of pressure, especially in the closing stages when they were desperately chasing an equaliser, but never did they really give the impression that they were capable of showing quality - something which is partly testament to how well Crawley performed on the day.

The only thing the Red Devils didn't do for all their hard work was add a second goal which would have put the result beyond all doubt. Ashley Nadesan couldn't make the most in one attack whilst Tom Nichols was a nuisance all over the pitch before his ever-so-slow substitution to waste a few seconds. Nichols has almost re-invented himself as a player since his horrendous spell at Bristol Rovers and deserves huge credit for his contribution in this game - from linking things up to tracking back and helping the cause, it was a really positive individual performance. His replacement, Kwesi Appiah, could have scored with an opportunity during what seemed like a prolonged period of injury-time but the scoreline remained as it was.

Crawley deserved their victory and will undoubtedly finish above the U's in the league table based on this performance. Despite their perception as a small club with a low budget, they've got some good players at this moment in time - many of whom are capable of going on to play at a higher level, and would put to shame some better paid players elsewhere in League Two. John Yems is clearly getting the best out of them and their technical ability and overall play for far superior to that of their opponents who, I suspect, will breathe a sigh of relief when they've accumulated 50 points.

It's ironic that Max Watters - Crawley's goalscoring sensation from last season (and someone who has featured multiple times on this blog), scored his first goal for MK Dons yesterday as well. Had he played in this game there's every probability that he'd have got on the score-sheet.