FOR SHEFFIELD UNITED and their hang-dog manager, Bryan Robson, yesterday’s hard-fought draw was another disappointing footnote in what is turning out to be a miserable league campaign.
The Blades have beaten two Premier League clubs in the FA Cup this season, but drawing with the Championship’s bottom team hardly constitutes encouraging viewing.
Rumours suggest that Robson’s position is under scrutiny. If so, this was a terrible start. United let slip a first-half lead and had to be rescued by David Carney’s second-half strike against a team that has won only once in its past 10 league matches.
Colchester’s downfall is their inability to defend, and in first-half stoppage time Luton Shelton nipped past Philip Ifil and shot beyond Dean Gerken.
Yet the response after the interval was emphatic. Twenty-six seconds into the second half, Colchester were level as Kevin Lisbie struck a brilliant dipping half-volley past Patrick Kenny. Then they took the lead when Johnnie Jackson’s free kick took a wicked deflection off Jon Stead that left Kenny stranded.
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Defeat for Robson would have been unthinkable, but for the second match running, he was saved such a fate when Carney scored from inside the penalty area.
Star man: Johnnie Jackson (Colchester)
Player ratings: Colchester: Gerken 7, Ifil 6, Coyne 7, Virgo 6, White 6, Duguid 6, Izzet 7, Jackson 7, Yeates 7 (Vernon 56min, 6), Lisbie 7, Platt 6
Sheff Utd: Kenny 6, Geary 6, Ehiogu 7, Morgan 7, Naysmith 6, Carney 7 (Beattie 72min), Speed 6 (Armstrong h-t, 6), Quinn 7, Martin 6 (Tonge 81min), Stead 7, Shelton 7
Scorers: Colchester: Lisbie 45, Stead og 64 Sheff Utd: Shelton 45, Carney 66
Referee: K Hill
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Attendance: 5,695