The Bees were forced into one change with Paul Gibbs,returning to the side after 6 weeks out through injury,replacing the suspended Ijah Anderson at left back. Other than that it was the same side that had despatched Brighton so emphatically 9 days earlier.
The Bees started the game off positively as they took the game to their opponents,who were on a four game losing streak themselves,and after a couple of half chances they took the lead on 25 minutes.The ball was won in midfield and played into Ben Burgess.His shot from the edge of the area was parried by Colchester goalkeeper Simon Brown straight into the path of the oncoming Lloyd Owusu who followed up and bundled the ball in from close range.
The Bees were edging it at this stage and came close to adding a second late on in the half when a Ben Burgess effort flashed just wide of the near post.As for Colchester well they struggled to make an impression on proceedings as the Bees won the 50/50 balls in midfield whilst the defence kept the shackles on Colchester front pair of Coote and McGleish.After 2 minutes of injury time the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of the half with the Bees one up.
Colchester came out after the interval intent on levelling up proceedings and went on the offensive straight away.Coote and McGleish began to cause problems with their movement up front whilst on loan winger Graham Barrett looked lively on the right wing.It was from this source that Colchester's equaliser came on the 66 minute mark.The ball was played out to Barrett on the right.He raced down the line and put in the cross which was met by Adrian Coote at the far post who got above his marker to head the ball home past Paul Smith to score his first goal for Colchester since his recent move from Norwich City.
The U's might have taken all 3 points late on when a free kick from Stockwell was superbly tipped over the bar by Paul Smith,who looked assured throughout,whilst the Bees could have taken them as well with Stephen Hunt coming close twice,hitting the bar with an overhead effort and firing straight at Brown when well placed on the left edge of the area.
Overall neither side really deserved to win or lose the game and 1-1 was the scoreline when the ref drew a close to proceedings.The positives to be drawn out of this one are that we broken the away day losing streak whilst the performances of Smith and Hunt were encouraging.Well it's something that Brentford need to build on as they continue their pursuit of promotion from Division 2.
MATCH RATINGS
Paul Smith 8
Michael Dobson 7
Paul Gibbs 7
Darren Powell 7
Ivar Ingimarsson 7
Steve Sidwell 7
Paul Evans(c) 5
Gavin Mahon 6
Stephen Hunt 7
Ben Burgess 6
Lloyd Owusu 7
Subs
Kevin O'Connor(for Burgess 86 mins) 6
Alan Julian n/a
Mark McCammon n/a
Jay Smith n/a
David Theobald n/a
The Bees started the game off positively as they took the game to their opponents,who were on a four game losing streak themselves,and after a couple of half chances they took the lead on 25 minutes.The ball was won in midfield and played into Ben Burgess.His shot from the edge of the area was parried by Colchester goalkeeper Simon Brown straight into the path of the oncoming Lloyd Owusu who followed up and bundled the ball in from close range.
The Bees were edging it at this stage and came close to adding a second late on in the half when a Ben Burgess effort flashed just wide of the near post.As for Colchester well they struggled to make an impression on proceedings as the Bees won the 50/50 balls in midfield whilst the defence kept the shackles on Colchester front pair of Coote and McGleish.After 2 minutes of injury time the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of the half with the Bees one up.
Colchester came out after the interval intent on levelling up proceedings and went on the offensive straight away.Coote and McGleish began to cause problems with their movement up front whilst on loan winger Graham Barrett looked lively on the right wing.It was from this source that Colchester's equaliser came on the 66 minute mark.The ball was played out to Barrett on the right.He raced down the line and put in the cross which was met by Adrian Coote at the far post who got above his marker to head the ball home past Paul Smith to score his first goal for Colchester since his recent move from Norwich City.
The U's might have taken all 3 points late on when a free kick from Stockwell was superbly tipped over the bar by Paul Smith,who looked assured throughout,whilst the Bees could have taken them as well with Stephen Hunt coming close twice,hitting the bar with an overhead effort and firing straight at Brown when well placed on the left edge of the area.
Overall neither side really deserved to win or lose the game and 1-1 was the scoreline when the ref drew a close to proceedings.The positives to be drawn out of this one are that we broken the away day losing streak whilst the performances of Smith and Hunt were encouraging.Well it's something that Brentford need to build on as they continue their pursuit of promotion from Division 2.
MATCH RATINGS
Paul Smith 8
Michael Dobson 7
Paul Gibbs 7
Darren Powell 7
Ivar Ingimarsson 7
Steve Sidwell 7
Paul Evans(c) 5
Gavin Mahon 6
Stephen Hunt 7
Ben Burgess 6
Lloyd Owusu 7
Subs
Kevin O'Connor(for Burgess 86 mins) 6
Alan Julian n/a
Mark McCammon n/a
Jay Smith n/a
David Theobald n/a