“Football League, you’re having a laugh,” sang the Supermarine fans as the boos rained down on the home team from their own supporters. The U’s faithful may have had a point. Colchester may be in the hat for the third round of the FA Cup, but this was far from a convincing performance from the League One side. Swindon Supermarine, on the other hand, can go home proud of the effort they put in to push their more illustrious opponents all the way.
In the end, David Mooney’s goal proved to be the difference between the two sides in a game that wasn’t without chances but never quite sparked to life. Mooney’s goal came from a moment of pure quality from Colchester. Ashley Vincent’s cross was neatly flicked on by Ian Henderson for Mooney to ghost in and apply the finish.
But just sixty seconds earlier Supermarine could have taken the lead when Ben Wells slid an inch-perfect ball into the area for Chris Allen. The striker, in plenty of space, had the time to pick his spot but dragged his shot narrowly wide. It was the non-league side’s best chance of the game and they were made to pay immediately at the other end of the pitch.
This should have been Colchester’s cue to up the tempo and kill off the game but the Essex side insisted on making life difficult for themselves, despite controlling much of the possession and coming out after the break with renewed purpose.
Kayode Odejayi was particularly wasteful in possession up front for the U’s and as Colchester took their foot off the gas, Supermarine pushed forward in search of an equaliser. Jamie Gosling’s superb run deserved more than bouncing off the woodwork, although the Supermarine player did have a narrow angle to aim at. Wells also got ahead of the Colchester defence but his shot was straight at goalkeeper Ben Williams.
That Colchester resorted to time wasting and running the ball into the corner flag tells a story about how hard the Wiltshire part-timers had pushed them, and how sloppy the U’s had been for the last half an hour, much to the displeasure of the crowd.
Ultimately, though, poor as John Ward’s men had been, the difference in quality still told and for all their endeavour, Supermarine lacking a cutting edge in the final third, despite good work from Allen and Ashley Holgate.
But with prize money from their cup run totaling over £50,000, Swindon Supermarine still come out as winners. Given the club was dangerously close to going out of business over the summer, this run to the second round has all but secured the future of Mark Collier, who was rightly proud of his players’ effort at the Community Stadium.
But with only 3,047 making it through the gates for this cup tie, Colchester need to up their game if they’re to excite their demanding crowd. On the basis of yesterday’s performance, John Ward’s men will need to up their game if they want to achieve a good cup run and a promotion push.