Colchester United (H) League 1 Saturday 22/12/12.

[Ancient Moaner]

Bowerman on For Grigg

End of the world...now without our 'star' striker, we're doomed I tell ya, doomed.

:D 1-0

Horah! great news, but hey we all know that we have to play the last ten minutes of the game, please ref blow the whistle now! pleeeease!

Wouldn't it be great to see headlines tomorrow "Saddlers end winless run with three second half goals" sorry stupid idea, we dow know how to score more than 2 goals in a match do we..... :lol:

[Ancient Moaner]

Only 13 points off a play off place.....my £100 bet may yet be safe! :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Welsh_Saddler]

Only 13 points off a play off place.....my £100 bet may yet be safe! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Now you're being silly......... :wink:

[chestersaddler]

Should be home and hosed bt now

Flo now on for Paterson

[Welsh_Saddler]

Almost as surprising as the scoreline is the prospect (with 8 minutes to play) that we may have kept a clean sheet :shock:

Colchester have just received their 3rd booking of the game - none for us (yet)

[Worsul]

Colchester just hit the bar

[Ancient Moaner]

Really dont like the way all of the latest 'unfair challenges' appear to be in our half, pleeeease hold on me babbies, dow throw THIS one away!!

[chestersaddler]

Thank phook :D

[Welsh_Saddler]

YEEESSSSSSSS!!!!!!! The great winless run ends here (probably to be replaced by another, later this season)

[BathSaddler]

A win at last. What a relief...

[BarnsleySaddler]

Well well up and running at last. :D

[MILO5]

On the phone to Sony ...TV is buggered , there is nothing about Colchesters last minute goal or goals .

Have only had it 6 months ...not happy.

[IHTC.]

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE :D

[JonnyOwen]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT

Deano for a 5 year contract extenstion!

[latviancheese]

Sounds like we rode our luck a bit, who gives a feck. 8)

[BathSaddler]

99 Colchester today - so, the usual 2,900 Saddlers. I know people will say it looked less than that, but it looked pretty empty last week too from where I was sitting in the Middle Tier. We currently operate at 30% capacity most weeks, so more than 2 out of 3 empty seats is bound to look pretty crap.

[boringteacher]

Relief. We played better last week, as did Brandy, but held on this time against an equally poor team.

Chambers was MoM in my opinion. More pluses than minuses - the defence looked much better with Butler/Downing paired up and Westcarr (- gloves this week) actually looked like he had a reason for being on the pitch.

Double relief!

[longdogs]

99 Colchester today - so, the usual 2,900 Saddlers. I know people will say it looked less than that, but it looked pretty empty last week too from where I was sitting in the Middle Tier. We currently operate at 30% capacity most weeks, so more than 2 out of 3 empty seats is bound to look pretty crap.

I really can't believe there were 2,900 Saddlers there. I take your point about the empty spaces around the ground, but the halftime queues in the F2G middle were half the normal length, and the Stadium Suite was much quieter than normal. I'd say there were more like 2,700 there in total. Are season ticket holders counted even if they're not there?

[DYSaddler]

1-0 but it could have been 5 or 6.. the pinball at the end of the first half was most entertaining and i couldn't believe how we didn't go into the break without the lead. Bold move by Smith to leave Holden out but I thought at the time he made the right call and it proved to be so - Downing and Butler never looked troubled from a poor Colchester side. We bossed the game in all fairness and they offered very little going forward, dare I say it but it was a very assured, professional performance which will most likely be followed up by a shambolic display at MK Dons on Boxing day :mrgreen: - the winless run is over, now time to kick on and sustain mid-table mediocrity :D

McCarey - Had a quiet game but did everything he needed to, thought his deadball distribution was very impressive today
Purkiss - Played very well, solid and didn't really give Sears a sniff and won his fair share in the air
Downing - Impressive again, very composed on the ball and always looks to play to feet, very solid - I like the Butler-Downing partnership and it should continue over the new year.
Butler - Same as Downing but feel less comfortable with him when he has the ball at his feet but is stronger in the air than Downing.
Taylor - Continuing to impress me, very solid performance.

Chambers - Not his biggest fan but thought he did a good job today - intercepted plagy well and attacked with purpose.
Mantom - Great ball for the assist but still dont think he has reached the levels of last season.
Paterson - Non existant for the majority
Westcarr - Strikes me as a lazy player but won some important flick ons today and his service from wide areas is quite impressive.

Grigg - Quiet game.
Brandy - MoM again and deserved too. Lively, energetic, dangerous and a very well taken goal which he thoroughly deserved. Would continue to be the first name on the team sheet for me.

Subs:
Bowerman - Did well when he came on, couple of nice runs and created a couple of chance - one going narrowly wide.
Flo - Didn't really have time to get involved but big relief to see him back.

All in all a good, solid display and an end to a miserable period. Merry christmas :D

[BathSaddler]

longdogs said: I really can't believe there were 2,900 Saddlers there. I take your point about the empty spaces around the ground, but the halftime queues in the F2G middle were half the normal length, and the Stadium Suite was much quieter than normal. I'd say there were more like 2,700 there in total.

Fair enough, longdogs. I was not there today, so I'm sure you and chester are right. I can remember not so long ago when there were long queues and both bars in the Stadium Suite were open.

[Exile]

Great to get 3 points in a single match again!

[DYSaddler]

We have won a game and the thread is only 3 pages long, compare that to the previous 16 match threads.. :roll:

[MILO5]

We have won a game and the thread is only 3 pages long, compare that to the previous 16 match threads.. :roll:

Sad but true. Never understand it ...when we win , I want to drink it all in , every detail. When we lose , being on here is too painful for a while.

Takes all sorts .

[Codsall Saddler]

Despite the fact that they hit the bar twice, I thought we were well worth the win. Could have had a couple in the first half and certainly the second. Attacked with purpose and got Purkiss free a number of times to deliver crosses. Brandy excellent and took his goal well - the churlish would say that he should have scored a potentially easier chance in the first half. Defence did reasonably well against an accomplished attack, Jabo and Morrison are a real threat in this league. Chambers also worth a mention.

Andy Taylor - definite lookalike for Harry Potter.

[Bristol Fan]

We comprehensively outplayed Colchester for 80 minutes before doing our best to allow them back in at the end - fortunately they couldn't quite do it. Butler and Downing coped well with the physical threat from the opposing forwards, and our approach play was excellent for once, creating countless chances - moving to a 4-2-3-1 formation with Westcarr just behind Grigg was surprisingly effective, him winning a lot of balls and linking up very well with Brandy in particular who was very lively again. If the "1" at the end of that formation had something about him, we could easily have won by four or five goals. I won't get carried away because Colchester were very poor but there was little to fault today until we sank deeper and deeper at the end of the game.

[Reeco]

3 points for the Saddlers makes my world a much happier place. Merry Christmas 1 and all let the drinking begin. :D

[PT]

As we left the ground today, some Colchester fans told me we'd been "lacky". If anyone speaks Essex perhaps they'd like to translate. I thought we were worthy of the win.

[chestersaddler]

Just back.

I was questioning my decision to go as we drove across the valleys this morning, having learned that the M4 was closed. At ten to five though, I was glad we made the effort.

I thought that we were well worth the win over the course of the match and that we played some nice football at times. We also defended well for the most part, yet we almost conspired to blow another two points. Why? Well it was as if as the clock struck 80 minutes, another set of players appeared. The pace dropped and we suddenly started giving the ball to Colchester and defending deeper. Maybe it is a confidence issue rather than tactics - I hope so.

By that time of course, we should have been home and hosed, although clear cut chances were not that many. Had Brandy kept the same composure as he did for his goal when one on one with the keeper near the end of the first half, we would have gone in a goal up for certain. Will Grigg's chance early in the second half was more of a great save than a bad miss for me, but apart from those two, it was mainly blocked shots and scrambles. A better final ball would have made a hell of a difference, and although it would be churlish to criticise Brandy, it is an area of his game which could be improved.

It is hard to remember our Keeper having to make a save but his positioning was a bit of a concern for me, evident as he watched helplessly at the end as one went just over and another came off the bar. Had either of those gone in, I would now be drowning my sorrows rather than celebrating.

Special mentions:

Brandy who apart from his pace and his goal, impressed with his work rate. He can also compete well in the air for a hobbit. Deserved MOM.
Chambers was just behind. Made a vital tackle preventin a one on one and tackled well / linked play well throughout.

I also thought that Westcarr looked a useful addition and the centre back pairing worked well.

Overall, I do not think there is a lot wrong tbh, but we do need to keep playing our game for 90 minutes. If we can we will be fine.

UTS :D

[SWS1]

We comprehensively outplayed Colchester for 80 minutes before doing our best to allow them back in at the end - fortunately they couldn't quite do it. Butler and Downing coped well with the physical threat from the opposing forwards, and our approach play was excellent for once, creating countless chances - moving to a 4-2-3-1 formation with Westcarr just behind Grigg was surprisingly effective, him winning a lot of balls and linking up very well with Brandy in particular who was very lively again. If the "1" at the end of that formation had something about him, we could easily have won by four or five goals. I won't get carried away because Colchester were very poor but there was little to fault today until we sank deeper and deeper at the end of the game.

Oh, it's great to get a win at last; happy weekend and Christmas Day at least. I don't want to sound churlish at this happy time but it it is soooo frustrating to chuck away winning (or drawing) positions so frequently which, according to Bristol and others we nearly did again today. I glean the fact that we were definitely superior today (the BBC stats certainly indicate that), if not exactly world beating, but one lucky strike and there would go 2 points yet again. If only we had been able to close out games we would be sniffing around the playoffs instead of looking over our shoulders. Let's hope our Ginger Genius can break us of the habit and let's see more clean sheets cos "clean sheets means not losing and sometimes winning" as Charlie Sheen never said. Happy! :D

[aaaae]

We have won a game and the thread is only 3 pages long, compare that to the previous 16 match threads.. :roll:

Because people are happy when we win and get on with a nice Saturday night and are pissed off when we lose and want to vent. Nothing untoward about that as far as I'm concerned. I wish the manager was more pissed off when we lose.