Swansea increased the gap at the top of the league by another point today after a hard earned draw against the league?s most in-form
side. Strugglers Bristol City did us a favour; beating 2nd placed
Huddersfield Town 2-0 at home.
Colchester were hoping to beat
their club record of 8 consecutive victories when they visited the
Liberty Stadium today and they nearly did, but Gueret was on hand to
share the points, with an excellent save from a late penalty.
Kenny
Jackett went with the same side that beat Scunthorpe at home in midweek which meant Robinson and Martinez kept their places in midfield.
It was obvious that Martinez does enable us to play more football along the floor but it seemed as though they weren?t sure what to do when entering the last 3rd of the pitch. Colchester meanwhile counter-attacked quickly which caused us problems. The midfield were leaving huge gaps in midfield for Colchester?s players to run into and we relied on the defence to clear the danger.
Our opponents went in front after just 13 minutes due to bad defending from the Swans. Counter attacking down the right wing, Chris Iwelumo ran onto a through ball and shot first time to beat Gueret in goal.
The Swans needed to pick themselves up now and put the pressure on our confident visitors. Britton was as lively as ever down the right wing and Tate also attacked well at times.
Lee Trundle looked desperate to end his minor goal drought and his selfishness shone through for me today – something we haven?t seen so much of from our top scorer.
There were a few occasions, especially in the second half when a pass would have a much easier option.
Akinfenwa was poor throughout the 90 minutes. He has strength and power but he doesn?t use it to his advantage, he had some excellent chances to score from headers but failed to get any on target apart from one, which forced the keeper into an excellent save which resulted in a corner.
Andy Robinson then got the equaliser for the Swans on the half hour mark. I think it was Trundle who was brought down just 2 yards outside the box and Robbo?s free kick was similar to the one against Mansfield two season?s ago, it curled over the wall and into the top left hand corner.
The second half saw Swansea dominate possession but like in the first half, Colchester did attack quickly when they won the ball back.
We created plenty of chances in the second period but wasteful corners and poor finishing let us down in the end.
Akinfenwa was then brought off for Connor on the hour mark and deservedly so. Having said that, Connor was no better when he came on as we simply couldn?t get that winning goal.
With 12 minutes left, Jackett used up all his subs with a double change. Leon Britton was unlucky to go off for Forbes, he was causing problems and was constantly making bursting runs down the right wing. Robinson also made way for Marc Goodfellow as we needed a natural left-winger.
The moment play restarted following the changes, Forbes received a pass from Goodfellow but his shot didn?t trouble the keeper.
Colchester seemed content with the current circumstances and then started wasting time at every opportunity.
Then, Gueret was the hero at the end for denying Colchester a winner from the penalty spot. The referee gave them a superb chance to make it 9 wins in 9 games but Gueret saved yet another penalty. Alan Tate brought down the
U?s top scorer, Iwelumo but Danns was unable to get a winner for the visiting side.
There was some confusion to follow. Play was stopped for a few minutes while we all hoped it wasn?t because a re-take was needed!
Luckily it wasn?t and Forbes was booked, although I?m not sure why.
Alan Tate said after the game that it was two points dropped. I disagree with that as a late penalty could have cost us a point. We created a lot of chances that we just couldn?t finish while Colchester counter attacked with pace.
We increased the gap at the top to 3 points due to Huddersfield losing at Bristol City, it was just a shame we couldn?t get a win to increase that gap even more but overall it was a fair result.
Player Ratings
Willy Gueret 9/10
See star player.
Sam Ricketts 5/10
Quiet game again today, didn?t attack down the wing like we know he can.
Garry Monk 7/10
Solid performance from Monk, worked well alongside Izzy.
Izzy 8/10
Made some excellent tackles and was solid throughout the 90 minutes.
Alan Tate 8/10
Supported Britton and attacked well down the right flank, looked lively.
Andy Robinson 7/10
Excellent goal from the free kick but I think we need a natural left winger playing rather than Robbo.
Roberto Martinez 6/10
We do play play better football on the floor when our skipper is playing but like Jones, they left gaps in the centre after losing possession.
Owain Tudur-Jones 5/10
A poor game from Tudur-Jones today, as above, left gaps in the centre leaving too much work for the defenders.
Leon Britton 8/10
Another great game from the little man. His pace and skill caused problems but he lacks any power in his shot.
Lee Trundle 6/10
I thought he was selfish today. Looked desperate to score when a pass was usually the better option. Had lots of chances on goal and maybe should have scored one of them.
Adebayo Akinfenwa 5/10
Bayo was poor today. Rubbish in the air and missed some great chances from crosses.
