Colchester – 1 Leicester – 1
The writer of this report apologises for the lack of detail and perspective. It’s hard to take notes hemmed in on a good old fashioned Steve Claridge “corrugated bus stop” terrace leaning on a crush barrier shoulder to shoulder with fellow singing foxes fans and without a clock for reference! We knew it was safe to park here as Colchester is statistically the safest place to leave the car!
- A grey day, Colchester on 10 home game winning streak.
- City play Gareth McAuley at right back to help counter a big Colchester side – he contributes well through the match.
- This was the first ever match between the two teams at Layer Road
The bare facts:
- City scored after 20 minutes when Hume, played in down the inside right channel by a much more confident looking Fryatt, beat the advancing goalkeeper for his ninth of the season
- Colchester equalize immediately after half time from a well taken penalty by their top scorer Iwellumo. It looked a typical Championship challenge from a pitch length away and, at the time it came, just what City did not want as they tried to regain the momentum that had seen them clearly the better side in the first half
- In bookings 4 – 3 to City (Tiatto, Hughes, McCarthy, Fryatt), but this was not a dirty game and a fussy referee left the pitch with both sets of fans telling him he “didn’t know what he was doing”!
- Disallowed goals: 2 – 1 to City including a Fryatt drive from a Maybury’s cross shot that would have been spectacular and, at the time, was no more than the visitors deserved…
Observations
A much better league performance than of very recent games, City were well set up and competitive. A win would not have flattered them. Tiatto played well, working hard as usual in midfield, and the defence, against the very prolific ‘little and large’ Cureton and Iwellumo (27 goals this season) coped very well – not letting set pieces and Halford’s long throws cause too many alarms. A ‘get out’ right sided player, stretching the play was called for. Porter struggled to make an impression left side whilst Hume was always a threat. It was pleasing to see Matty Fryatt back to approaching his best form.
This was a very enjoyable game. City had the best of the first half, taking the game to the home side and not letting them settle. The second half was more even with both sides having chances. In a “stop-start” season so far, this was a definite “start” again, building on the Fulham performance and making it two defeats on the last eight games now.!
Best crowd chants “There’s only one Izzett”, aimed at Muzzy’s younger brother Kemel; “If you’re one nil up – stand up!” We were, the whole game! “Let’s all have a disco!” – no room on the terrace dance floor!
Leicester: Henderson, McAuley, McCarthy, Kisnorbo, Maybury, Hughes, Williams, Tiatto, Porter, Hume, Fryatt (Cadamarteri 84).
Subs Not Used: Logan, Johansson, Stearman, Wesolowski.
Booked: Tiatto, Hughes, McCarthy, Fryatt. Goals: Hume 19.
Hume scores his 9th (picture courtesy of Raymonds/lcfc.com)
Colchester: Gerken, Halford, Baldwin, Brown, Barker, Duguid, Watson, Izzet, Garcia, Iwelumo, Cureton (Ephraim 62).
Subs Not Used: Davison, White, Jackson, Guy.
Booked: Watson, Izzet, Duguid. Goals: Iwelumo 48 pen
Att: 5,915 Ref: D McDermid (Hampshire).