You could say its been a season of two halves as a period without any games from the beginning of December and into mid February meant we almost had as long a gap as we did pre-season and this seemed to coincide with players leaving the club, apparently frustrated at not playing (as we all were) and as a result we struggled to hit the ground running and fall into the same pattern as before the break where we were in a good league position having only slipped up once in the league.

Having been involved with the club since around this time last year (I was previously bought in to assist the then Reserve Team Manager Michael Wallace) I knew most of the players and was confident that we could do O.K this season.

After the change in management personnel with Michael leaving the club just before pre-season had started Adam Frost and I were offered the chance to take over the reigns by Mo and we accepted.

Pre-Season had gone well and a few new faces had come into the club as well as helping a few regular ones find their feet with match time and by the time the league and Chell Trophy campaigns kicked off we felt fairly ready.

The opening league game saw a great 5-1 away win v Stowmarket and things looked promising although we found the Chell Trophy games tougher facing 3 opponents a division higher but we held our own at times and are one of the only teams to beat a Brightlingsea Regent team who were going well in their respective campaign (a nice reply as they beat us at The Maple Tree Cars Stadium), we also notched up an away win v Stanway which seemed to go down well with players (seeing as there is such a close connection with many) and personally for me the first half of that game was some of the best football I have seen played by us as we strode into a 4-0 lead. Sadly we finished 3rd in our group and missed out on progressing further and didn’t get a chance to exact revenge on Witham for a heavy defeat at home which would’ve been a good test looking at how they are doing in their campaign too.

The rivalries are something that I am only starting to understand as being a North London boy who now lives in Hornchurch I cant make claim I was too au faux with Colchester’s local history.

In the league we had an off day as a communication mix up left us a little short for a trip to Long Melford and we came up short on the field too losing 3-2. We bounced back with a thumping 7-0 home win v Stowmarket, a 4-1 win away to Newmarket, 5-2 win at Woodbridge and a 3-1 win at Whitton before the rains set in and played havoc with the fixture list.

During this period it was rewarding to see players move up to the first team squad as we understand that providing that support to the first team is probably the most important role of the reserves and it was also good to see first team players coming in and playing within the reserves to help boost their own fitness levels to have them competing again.

After the aforementioned lay off we didn’t really get going and managed to grab a late 2-2 draw at home to Whitton, went down 2-0 at home to Saffron Walden and then got a heavy beating at the hands of Diss 5-1.

Frustratingly during the above games we have probably played well enough at times and also created enough chances to win all three games but failed to take these and then compounded the problem with both individual and team errors that have gifted opponent’s goals.

Thankfully we managed to get the result we were after last weekend to put us back on track at home to Diss (won 2-1) and it was also pleasing for me the way in which we had to hold on for the result as we showed a bit more of the required grit and determination as Diss really threw everything at us towards the end.

At the time of writing there is still an outside chance we can go on to win the league title although that is largely relying on luck as Saffron Walden need to fail to beat Whitton Utd at home and then their last fixture is at home to us.. We on the other hand need to ensure we win ALL our remaining four fixtures starting with our next game against a high flying Long Melford team even if the league may have been decided by that point.

If the first team avoid relegation then it will be considered a good season for the reserves, if lady luck is shining on us it could be a GREAT season.

COYD

Jason

Reserve Team remaining fixtures:

* Weds 8th April - Home v Long Melford - 7:45pm k.o

* Tues 14th April Home v Woodbridge Town - 7:45pm k.o - To Be Confirmed

* Sat 18th April Away v Saffron Walden - 3pm k.o

* Sat 25th April Home v Newmarket Town - 3pm k.o

Reserve Team Information:

Manager: Jason Savage

Player/Asst manager: Adam Frost

Physio: Bernard Frost

Team Captain: Ben Fowler

Vice Captain: Jake Hearn