Colchester Layered to rest!
Colchester 0 Burnley 4, 9th October
1998
Julian Booth
This was on of those games that if you were there
you'll never forget. At last we played the standard of football we expect, although it was
against one of the most inept teams I've seen for years. It all started inside the first
minute when Little broke past a desperate tackle from Dunne and whipped in a cross that
was half-cleared to Andy Payton, who crossed the ball and smashed it into the bottom
corner: a goal that one or two away supporters might have missed. One of these was
rumoured to be no less than Dave Burnley - can't be true!
The more of this game you watched, the more confident you
became. Passes found the right man, shots rained in on target and players displayed a
self-belief that has been absent for too long. This confidence again showed after ten
minutes, when Payton latched on to a Gavin Ward clearance to lob the stranded Emberson,
and it's 2-0. Have we turned the corner?
Colchester's only attacks on Ward's goal were restricted to
hopeful twenty-yard shots, none of which hit the target. A score of 2-0 at half time was
acceptable but should have been added to by Payton, after a brilliant one-two with Cooke
but Emberson smothered the shot, and by Cooke, who shot into the side netting when it
would have been easier to score.
A quick substitution at the start of the second half, a new
striker to inspire a comeback, didn’t have the desired effect. A Burnley attack down
the left and yet another Cooke-Payton combination let in Payton, whose shot was parried by
Emberson, and our Norwegian star Rune Vindheim tapped home an easy chance. Colchester
became more desperate and two more substitutions failed to inspire them any more. After 68
minutes Colchester had their one and only effort on goal, but it fell to the fullback,
whose effort was blocked by Ward.
The scoreline was complete after 70 minutes, when Little
again broke down the right wing and fired in a cross which Cooke volleyed home. There were
chances to increase the scoreline but the game seemed to peter out, yet the Colchester
fans, true supporters to the last, stayed until the very end of a hopeless cause.
Team: Ward, Scott,
Armstrong, Vindheim (C Smith 67), Heywood, Reid, Little, Robertson, Cooke, Payton (Maylett
84), P Smith. SNU: Carr-Lawton
Links - Braidy's and Firmo's reports plus the home match
