The Imps were to suffer defeat at the hands of their hosts Colchester United, with The U's winning courtesy of a solitary goal from Sammie Szmodics.
The U’s got the game off to a flyer from their point of view, netting with their first attack of the game. Kane Vincent-Young cut in from the left, he was stopped in his tracks but the ball was rolled into Sammie Szmodics who slid the ball in past the left hand of Josh Vickers. Immediately from the restart The Imps almost got on level terms as Harry Anderson smashed a low effort on target, which Sam Walker got down smartly to save.
City were keen to get forward and were penning their hosts into their own half of the field, limiting the home side to the occasional foray forward on the break. Ollie Palmer and Elliott Whitehouse linked well on the edge of the box with Palmer getting his shot away, but he couldn’t force Walker into a save as The Imps continued to put the pressure on the U’s defence.
United got forward quickly down the right, a low cross found Szmodics who slid the ball across the face of goal where Mikael Mandron tried an audacious flick but the challenge of Sean Raggett and the advancing Vickers did enough to put him off and the effort went wide.
City whilst seeing quite a bit of the ball struggled to break through a resolute Colchester defence, but the hosts had a similar problem as they couldn’t breach the backline of The Imps. Anderson was brought down on the edge of the box giving City the chance to get a shot on goal left of centre around 25 yards out, up stepped Nathan Arnold with a fantastic curling effort over the wall but it cannoned off the crossbar and the rebound couldn’t be forced home.
Half Time
Colchester 1 The Imps 0
Matt Rhead and Matt Green came on for the start of the second half to give The Imps a different dimension to their attack and it didn’t take long for City to create their first opportunity. Anderson won a corner out on the left, Neal Eardley swung the ball in and Raggett dived in but his header went wide of goal.
Alex Woodyard was in the thick of the action in midfield showing all his usual grit and determination, helping drive City forward. Sean Long almost created an opportunity with a long throw, which was flicked on by Raggett but it was lashed clear but the Imps couldn’t force it home at the back post.
Vickers was called into action for the first time in the second half when Szmodics tried his luck from distance, The Imps’ ‘keeper diving to his right got two strong hands to the ball to palm it from danger. Up the other end Raggett again was causing problems, he almost got City back on level terms as he headed on target from Eardley’s corner but Walker was in the right place to save.
City continued to push forward, and the U’s almost caught City on the break but Drey Wright’s centre from the right was turned wide via a deflection by Szmodics from just inside the penalty area. Mandron was denied by Vickers as Colchester again aimed to exploit the space in behind with The Imps pushing forward.
Anderson forced Walker into a save after winning the battle for the ball with Vincent-Young before Stewart fired a free kick over for City and Ryan Innis headed over for the U’s.
Whitehouse started a move on halfway with a wonderful first time ball out to Long, he fed Anderson who skipped past his marker to cross but just as the trigger was about to be pulled The U’s got a vital toe on the ball.
Full Time
Colchester United 1 The Imps 0
Colchester United
1 Sam WALKER
2 Ryan JACKSON
4 Tom LAPSLIE
6 Frankie KENT
7 Drey WRIGHT
8 Doug LOFT
10 Sammie SZMODICS
18 Tom EASTMAN
19 Mikael MANDRON
22 Kane VINCENT-YOUNG
26 Ryan INNIS
Substitutes
29 Rene GILMARTIN
3 Lewis KINSELLA
14 Brandon COMLEY (38’ for LOFT)
17 Kyel REID (90' for Szmodics)
21 Brandon HANLON (80’ for MANDRON)
24 Craig SLATER
27 Sammi ODELUSI
Booking: Mandron 57’ Szmodics 70’
Goal: Szmodics 3’
The Imps
21 Josh VICKERS
2 Sean LONG
4 Elliott WHITEHOUSE
8 Ollie PALMER
11 Billy KNOTT
15 Rob DICKIE
23 Neal EARDLEY
25 Sean RAGGETT
26 Harry ANDERSON
28 Nathan ARNOLD
30 Alex WOODYARD
Substitutes
1 Paul FARMAN
3 Sam HABERGHAM
5 Luke WATERFALL
7 Josh GINNELLY
9 Matt RHEAD (46’ for PALMER)
10 Matt GREEN (46’ for KNOTT)
32 Cameron STEWART (62’ for ARNOLD)
Booking : Palmer 45’ Dickie 77’ Raggett 79'
Referee: G Norwood
Assistants: M Webb & G Warren
Attendance: 3,102 (475 Imps Supporters)
