Ruthless Colchester Under-21s hit Young Hornets for six
Editor Seth Nobes was in Kings Langsley to see Colchester United Under-21s bulldoze their way to a 6-0 victory away at Watford Under-21s in a bottom of the table clash.
Colchester Under-21s scored four first-half goals to condemn bottom of the table Watford Under-21s to a heavy 6-0 defeat at The Orbital Fasteners Stadium.
The game was effectively over as the referee signalled the end of the first-half, with goals from Sam Kuffour, Donell Thomas, Harvey Sayer, and Ryan Lowe seeing the U’s four to the good at the break.
The Young Hornets improved after the break, but the game was gone, and two more goals from Kuffour and Sayer meant Colchester Under-21s picked up their first win in 6 games in some style.
The saying ‘third time lucky’ often only offers false hope, but this was not the case when Colchester Under-21s took the lead. The second of three consecutive corners saw Kuffour rattle the crossbar, before making no mistake the next time around. His powerful header in the 11th minute gave the U’s a deserved lead.
Watford could have been level just minutes later. Tobi Adeyemo used his strength well to turn the defender, but his tame shot when through one-on-one made for an easy save for Ted Collins in the Colchester Under-21s net.
The Young Hornets would rue the missed opportunity when Thomas doubled the U’s lead in the 18th minute. A strong cross from the left picked out Colchester’s number 8, who made no mistake with a composed finish inside the 18-yard box.
Colchester U21s continued to dominate as the first-half wore on, with two becoming three in the 42nd minute, again from a corner. Watford’s failure to deal with the ball allowed Sayer to drive inside the box and slot home.
Bad became worse for the home side on the stroke of half-time, with corners proving a thorn in Watford’s side, and a strength in Colchester’s. Lowe added his name to the scoresheet, and the U’s were four goals to the good at the break.
Two half-time changes for the Young Hornets saw Adrian Blake and Charlie Davis enter the field of play at the expense of Jack Grieves and Hazmat Balogun.
Tactical changes from Omer Riza, the home side’s lead coach, saw Watford have the better of the first 15 minutes in the second-half, with Blake completing several successive progressive dribbles, and firing wide after cutting onto his right foot on the edge of the box.
However, this early second-half pressure had little impact on the game as Collins remained untested. A bad day at the office was confounded when Kuffour and Sayer both got their second goals of the day, ramping up the score line to six. This included four from a corner.
The result sees Watford Under-21s cast further adrift at the bottom of The Premier League Professional Development League South. Their seventh defeat of the season means they have just three points, with the side ten points away from ninth-placed QPR.
Colchester United’s comprehensive victory sees them move further away from the bottom, and up a place to 8th. The U’s now sit on 14 points, 11 clear of the Young Hornets.
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