| Grecians to have hair-raising time at the JobServe against the Super U's 10:43 - Jun 15 with 1755 views | durham_exile |
League Season 2019/20 will live long in the annals of Colchester United. It has been a memorable season on several counts; the inspirational League Cup displays, the impressive performances, cementing a position in the top seven, John McGreal notching up 200 games in charge of the U’s and a season curtailed by the most virulent virus (COVID-19) arguably since Spanish flu over 100 years ago.
Now everything pales into insignificance when compared to the tragic deaths that have arisen because of this pandemic , but football is gradually making a return. Lockdown measures are easing albeit with caution. This week witnesses the return of the Premier League and soon will come the Championship. But it is League One and League Two where the EFL finally managed to get their act together and agreed the most sensible solution. Relegation and Promotion to apply and more importantly the Play Offs to be contested by the four teams who missed out on the automatic promotion places.
That means that the two Semi-Finals will be Cheltenham against Northampton and Colchester will play Exeter over two legs for the right to contest a final at Wembley and all played behind closed doors, but with the opportunity for supporters to be present in cardboard cut outs only.
More than 100 cut outs will wear the famous blue or blue/white stripes in the East Stand on this Thursday evening at the JobServe Community Stadium for a tea time 1715hrs kick off and then the journey to Exeter City will be made ahead of the second leg on Monday 22 June again at 1715hrs.
The winning team will then play at Wembley on Monday 29 June with a 1930hrs kick off.
So much for the pre-amble. Colchester will play their most important game on Thursday evening since ….. well Saturday 7 March at Brunton Park Carlisle when a splendid Away performance saw Colchester triumph 3-0 and secure this vital Play Off place. I was amongst the 146 faithful that afternoon and witnessed a performance deserving of the play offs and probably promotion as well.
It was JM 200th game in charge of the U’s and they set out to rectify many of the issues that had affected their disappointing result against Cheltenham the week before. Now much was made about that game against the Robins. My own view is that we had an off day and they couldn’t have played a great deal better having soaked up pressure and then to hit us on the counter attack. Indeed, I do not see Cheltenham overcoming Northampton in the other Semi-Final. Ultimately though it is largely irrelevant because our fate is very much in our own hands whoever we play.
Make no mistake Exeter City will be a difficult and challenging game. They have hovered around the automatic promotion places all season and will be bitterly disappointed to fall at the final hurdle. They will not want to lose out on a second chance.
This season it has been impossible to separate the teams with a 2-2 draw at home and a 0-0 draw at St James’s Park . However, in recent years our form has not been great against the Grecians. I have been to all the most recent games at Exeter to witness defeats 3-0 (twice) and a 1-0 narrow defeat. All disappointing games and results.
Whilst the last time that we defeated them at Home was 10 December 2017 when we prevailed by 3-1.
Forget about those games though, they are consigned to history and we look only forward to the vital games on Thursday and Monday. If the return of the Bundesliga has taught us anything it is that Home advantage has largely been swallowed up by the lack of atmosphere and support inside the ground.
Yesterday however I witnessed a new phenomenon, crowd noise inside the stadium played over the tannoy. Not only goal celebrations, but also partisan home support when an opposition player committed a foul or when they had a good deal of possession. Bizarre perhaps but it did create the illusion of a crowd. Of course, we will have the cardboard cut outs willing us to victory.
Not having played competitively since 7 March should have allowed any injuries to have recovered and in our case that was largely Paris Cowan-Hall , who, since his heroics against Tottenham Hotspur when he kept Son as quiet as a Church mouse he has been missing with a long term ankle injury.
The other good news is that despite the decision not to renew the contracts of 12 players including Ryan Jackson, Luke Prosser, Frank Nouble and Brandon Comley playing the games to a conclusion in June means that we will have their services for the Play Offs. The one exception is Brandon Comley who has departed the club.
Interestingly the team that played against Carlisle is the one that could line up on Thursday evening. It is only the subs bench where changes would need to be made.
Gerken
Jackson Eastman Prosser Bramall
Harriott Pell Stevenson Poku
Norris Nouble
Subs:
Welch-Hayes Comley Clampin Ross Robinson Gambin and Senior
Jevani Brown has returned to the club from FGR and if Paris Cowan-Hall is fit then both could be in contention for a place on the bench.
Providing all are fit I would play the XI who started at Brunton Park and consider the subs as follows:
Ross Clampin Senior Gambin Robinson Cowan-Hall Sowunmi
Brown could be considered, but I do not think he will play.
Therefore, Thursday night should see the following Colchester line up 4,4,2:
Gerken
Jackson Eastman Prosser Bramall
Harriott Pell Stevenson Poku
Norris Nouble
Subs:
Ross Clampin Senior Gambin Robinson Cowan-Hall Sowunmi
Whilst we “warmed up” with a 4-0 defeat at the New Den, Matt Taylor the Exeter City boss resisted the temptation to play a friendly prior to the semi-final. He did not think it was worth the risk.
Exeter City are likely to line up like this in a 3,5,2 formation:
Ward
Sweeney A Martin Parkes
Williams Taylor Collins Law Sparkes
Bowman Ajose
I believe not to play a friendly was a mistake by the Grecians, regardless of the result against Millwall our players have at least played a game against opposition who potentially could be in the Championship play offs. That experience will be important at an energy sapping JobServe stadium on Thursday.
The weather on Thursday at Colchester will be 18 degrees Celsius with light wind and light rain showers. The pitch should be like a billiard table.
Hit the ground running, take the game to the Grecians, and think only of the prize at Wembley that awaits.
Score prediction, a handsome 3-1 first leg scoreline to the Super U’s.
Enjoy the game, it is live on Sky. My programme is enroute and my cardboard cut-out should be sitting in the East Stand.
What more could one ask for? Perhaps the post horn gallop to run out to!!!!
Thinking ahead (and not counting my chickens) how do I get to watch at Wembley apart from on Sky. I have been fortunate to have been present at every Wembley game the U’s have played in, surely I cant miss out on this one!!!
Up the Super U’s
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| Grecians to have hair-raising time at the JobServe against the Super U's on 20:36 - Jun 18 with 434 views | durham_exile |
| Grecians to have hair-raising time at the JobServe against the Super U's on 20:31 - Jun 18 by thrillseeker |
Well, that was an awful game but I will always take a win
Started watching the Northampton v Cheltenham match which is a lot better and with a ot more pace - Cheltenham look good |
The Cobblers should be level. They fluffed their lines with the penalty miss.
I think it will be a draw.
Up the U's | |
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| Grecians to have hair-raising time at the JobServe against the Super U's on 21:21 - Jun 18 with 421 views | thrillseeker |
| Grecians to have hair-raising time at the JobServe against the Super U's on 20:36 - Jun 18 by durham_exile |
The Cobblers should be level. They fluffed their lines with the penalty miss.
I think it will be a draw.
Up the U's |
The pace and intensity of this match is a lot greater than anything in an game |  | | |
| Grecians to have hair-raising time at the JobServe against the Super U's on 21:29 - Jun 18 with 418 views | Leadbelly |
Pretty awful game. They had more of the ball but we did more with it. | |
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| Grecians to have hair-raising time at the JobServe against the Super U's on 21:30 - Jun 18 with 417 views | burnsieespana |
Doesn't matter as we won. Monday will be equally as tight.
Cheltenham looking strong.
Come on U's you can do this. [Post edited 18 Jun 2020 21:51]
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| Grecians to have hair-raising time at the JobServe against the Super U's on 00:06 - Jun 19 with 385 views | wessex_exile |
Not brilliant, but also not awful. We definitely looked rusty and short of pace, and there periods when Exeter looked in control. But what did they do with it? Not much to be honest, did Gerks even have a serious attempt to save? Still a long way to go, but not a bad start.
Up the U’s |  |
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| Grecians to have hair-raising time at the JobServe against the Super U's on 06:02 - Jun 19 with 377 views | noah4x4 |
Did you see Freddy Mercury was in the crowd?
Miss Marple too?
Pre-arranged Red Arrows at 17:07 were a no-show, but wearing a tribute to the visiting French President Macron on our shirts showed due respect on de Gaulle Day.
If Lionel Messi had scored Bramall's free kick it would have 260m "likes" and dubbed a "wonder goal". |  | | |
| Grecians to have hair-raising time at the JobServe against the Super U's on 08:15 - Jun 19 with 356 views | GOSBTS |
I thought that was an excellent result for the U's. It was always going to be tentative as the players hadn't played for 3 months and probably were wary whether their preparation would have been as good as Exeter's. On top of this, this wasn't a usual playoff game, which the co-commentator didn't seem to grasp and almost implied that Exeter would be happier than the U's with that result. Home teams lose the big advantage of having their crowd to spur them on, and for a team with good attendances like Exeter, that will be a big loss to them on Monday.
Fantastic goal from Bramall and the team were well disciplined. I presume having Senior and Nouble on opposite wings was to neutralise the threat of Williams with the pace of Cohen and Courtney? It worked defensively, but we've seen before how they work better on their natural flanks. Jacko had a very good game I thought.
Roll on Monday! We've done well in big games this year and on the road. I'm hopeful. I'm wary of the threat Cheltenham would pose in the final, but let's keep our eyes on Monday and worry about Wembley after!! |  | | |
| Grecians to have hair-raising time at the JobServe against the Super U's on 10:06 - Jun 19 with 337 views | bwildered |
Romper, bomper, stomper, boo, can see Freddie , Scurlogie Champ and many more during the outbreaks of football .
Fine free kick by Bramhall, following a cheap free kick from Dickenson . If we can stop giving possession away less regularly in the middle, have a good chance of progression .
Would have took that result before kick off, so let's finnish what we started on Monday night . |  |
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| Grecians to have hair-raising time at the JobServe against the Super U's on 14:19 - Jun 19 with 310 views | durham_exile |
| Grecians to have hair-raising time at the JobServe against the Super U's on 10:06 - Jun 19 by bwildered |
Romper, bomper, stomper, boo, can see Freddie , Scurlogie Champ and many more during the outbreaks of football .
Fine free kick by Bramhall, following a cheap free kick from Dickenson . If we can stop giving possession away less regularly in the middle, have a good chance of progression .
Would have took that result before kick off, so let's finnish what we started on Monday night . |
Disappointing to read in today's paper that a handful of Colchesterunited supporters waited to see the players leave the stadium but one managed to get involved in an altercation with a steward aiming a punch at him.
Sad to see the reporting featuring stupidity rather than the brilliance of Cohen Bramall.
I hope we are not fined for this madness
Up the U's | |
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| Grecians to have hair-raising time at the JobServe against the Super U's on 17:21 - Jun 19 with 287 views | bwildered |
If the game was behind closed doors .
Q1 - How did they be present in the ground ?
Q2 - How was there a Exeter flag in the away block of the West stand ?
Q3 - Did you get a option to collect your cardboard figure ? | |
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| Grecians to have hair-raising time at the JobServe against the Super U's on 18:42 - Jun 19 with 273 views | durham_exile |
| Grecians to have hair-raising time at the JobServe against the Super U's on 17:21 - Jun 19 by bwildered |
If the game was behind closed doors .
Q1 - How did they be present in the ground ?
Q2 - How was there a Exeter flag in the away block of the West stand ?
Q3 - Did you get a option to collect your cardboard figure ? |
bwildered
The fans were outside the ground waiting by the players entrance.
Exeter officials would have brought the flag and there were 14 cardboard Exeter cutouts.
The cardboard cut outs can be returned to Exeter and regarding the Colchester ones they can stay until supporters are allowed back into the ground and then we can take them home.
Up the U's | |
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