U’s fall to defeat in the A12 Derby

Colchester United 0 – 3 Ipswich Town at the WHCS © cu-fc.com

The U’s slumped to a 3-0 defeat to near neighbours IpswichTown in the A12 derby on Tuesday night.

Prior to the match, I felt confident the U’s could create problems for the Suffolk side with the pace on the flanks and balls through the centre of the park.

Ipswich lined up with quite a large physical side in attack and defence, which saw the U’s struggle to cause much problem for Mick McCarthy’s men.

Walker was on hand to deny McGoldrick twice in the opening half © gazette-news.co.uk

Right from the start Town grabbed the initiative and could have been leading within two minutes after Sam Walker had to stretch to push McGoldrick’s fierce effort onto the bar and moments later former U’s man Anthony Wordsworth headed the ball into the stands.

Colchester just could not get going, mainly down to how well organised Ipswich were in all areas of the pitch. The U’s had been playing neat passing football from the back in their other pre season games, however Ipswich just stopped the U’s in their tracks and forced us to go long to Clinton Morrison who showed plenty of effort and determination, but struggled with the physical presence of Luke Chambers. McGoldrick was the main attacking threat for the away side and he was denied a goal with an effort from range by a smart diving save by the U’s giant custodian.

The U’s struggled against set pieces last season and it was from a corner that Ipswich took the lead, when the unmarked Chambers headed Wordsworth’s floated corner home powerfully. It was deeply frustrating to see the tallest man in the Ipswich side not even picked up by any of the U’s defenders.

It was equally galling minutes later, as another set-piece caused havoc in the box. Tosin Olufemi toe poked the ball into the path of McGoldrick who volleyed the ball through the crowded box and into the net for the second.

It was too easy for Ipswich who for all their possession, had not really created much until the goals.

Colchester continued to toil, but there was just a lack of edge in attack. Sears was full of running, but seems to have a lack of confidence with the ball at his feet. He does not seem to know where he is running to beat a man and often runs out of steam. Sanchez Watt also had no joy as he simply had no time with the ball at his feet. Clinton Morrison was the lone front man and he did all he could to bring the ball down, but he needs the ball into his feet and not his head and all too often it was aimed high. It was fair to say that Ipswich were a typical Mick McCarthy side, well organised and a good physical presence.

Eastmond returned earlier than expected for the U’s. © greenun24.co.uk

One promising sign to the first half was the return of Craig Eastmond after recovering from injury, after the horror tackle against Heybridge. He lasted 30 minutes into his comeback before being replaced by Gilbey.

Half time saw many changes in the U’s ranks with only the back five remaining the same.

It rather amazed me how quick the U’s came out of the blocks in the second period.

Alex Gilbey was thrust in a rather alien position on the right wing and Drey Wright began to cause havoc on the left with a number of darting runs. Kem Izzet and David Wright got into the act pushing forward too!

I have been impressed with Izzet this pre season. He looks full of energy and reminded me of his early days when he first joined the club. He made bursting runs forward and even at times being the furthest man forward.

Jabo Ibehre offered a much better physical presence and seemed to thrive on the battle with the Ipswich centre backs, but the U’s were restricted to long range efforts which Dean Gerken was comfortable with.

In fact I can only remember only one real save of note for Gerken in the second half and that was from Drey Wright cutting inside and forcing the former U’s ‘keeper into a diving save to push the ball out for a corner.

The U’s dominated the possession in the second half, but just lacked the cutting edge in the final third. I felt Andy Bond had his best game of pre season in behind Ibehre and he looked to shoot from range on every occasion, much like when he first arrived from Barrow.

The second half was a complete reverse of the first half where the U’s nullified Ipswich completely and looked the only side in the game.

Despite dominating, a swift counter attack saw the Tractor Boys grab a third from the spot. U’s ‘keeper and Ipswich fan, Sam Walker wiped out Darryl Murphy as he went through on goal and the Irishman dusted himself down and sent Walker the wrong way to give a rather uneven look to the score line.

I felt a tinge of disappointment after the match, but the reality of pre season is that it is a work out to see what fits best and work out where your frailties lie. Ipswich did what they needed to do and were clinical when capitilising on the U’s mistakes.

It is obvious that we lack height for set pieces, but the marking has to be better and also we need to be more creative with balls into the box or work more on the short corners against bigger and physical sides like Ipswich, as League One is full of them.

Ryan Dickson impressed at left back © Skysports.com

I would like to see more ball carriers in midfield and see us run at people a little bit more on the flanks. Massey is another one who looks a little cautious beating a man, but he is defensively very good and has an excellent work rate, so I do think overall he does offer a lot. The full backs looked to get forward whenever they can and I was especially impressed by Dickson’s attacking qualities and delivery in to the box. I feel he would make a good addition to the squad once he is 100% fit, as it is clear, like with Sanchez Watt, that he is missing that little bit of an edge at the moment. On the other flank, I would have liked to see Olufemi run with the ball and attack his opposition full back rather than cut inside or back on himself as it allowed Ipswich to stop us countering and stop any momentum in its tracks.

Another thing I would like to see us improve on is better and more intelligent runs from the centre of midfield and from the wide men when Ibehre goes out wide to receive the direct balls to his chest. He is very good at taking the ball down and holding it up, but we never have anyone running off him for him to use the ball. Bond made some intelligent runs second half, but as he was the only one offering anything, his runs was easily tracked.

It was a decent work out for the U’s last night and Dunne should have learned a lot from his side. I felt the 3-0 score line did not really reflect how the match went, as Ipswich did not really create many scoring opportunities and only ever looked dangerous when the excellent McGoldrick had the ball. The second half was pleasing on the eye and gives fans reason for optimism for the coming season.

Colchester have another game against Histon tonight before the final friendly against Maldon and Tiptree this weekend and it should be a decent test for the U’s to further work on their pre season preparations.

Line Ups

U’s: Walker, Olufemi (Wilson) Okuonghae, Eastman (Pappoe), Dickson (O’Donoghue), Eastmond (Gilbey), Bean (Izzet), Sears (Bond), Massey (Da Wright), Watt (Dr Wright), Morrison (Ibehre).

Ipswich: Loach (Gerken), Veseli (Hammond), Cresswell  (Mings), Chambers (October), Smith (Berra), Tabb (Carson), Skuse (Hewitt), Hyam (Berkane), Wordsworth (Lawrence), Nouble (Murphy),  McGoldrick (Taylor).

Man of the Match – Luke Chambers (Ipswich) – I felt Chambers was a real rock at the back for Ipswich and capped his performance with a good headed goal. He won most balls in the air and showed great positional sense and recovery when stopping Ibehre in his tracks when it looked like the U’s man was through on goal.

Drey Wright was my pick of the U’s players on display, he rounded his full back with ease and was doubled up on later in the half. Provided the U’s biggest threat going forward and linked well with Ibehre and Dickson.

Att: 4585