Colchester United manager Danny Cowley failed to hide his anger with his side’s performance after a 4-1 defeat against Doncaster Rovers last night.
The U’s went into the game at the JobServe Community Stadium knowing a point would have been enough to guarantee their League Two status for another season. They looked good value after just nine minutes when Jayden Fevrier handed the home team an early lead. However, their advantage lasted just five minutes when Luke Molyneux levelled before Harrison Biggins put Grant McCann’s team ahead shortly after.
Doncaster have been the surprise package of the second half of the campaign and showed their quality in the second period. The result was put beyond doubt with goals from Tom Anderson and Joe Ironside, moving the Yorkshire-based outfit into fifth.
Colchester had won back-to-back games for the first time since November heading into the clash. Confidence was high that they could get the job done, despite their opponents having rattled off nine successive wins prior to the tie. They soon came crashing back down to Earth though, and now face a nervy final day on Saturday.
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— Doncaster Rovers FC (@drfc_official) April 23, 2024
It was a performance which angered Cowley, who has overseen an improvement since taking over from Matthew Etherington in January. Speaking to Gazette News after the game, the former Lincoln City boss said:
“It was a tough night for us.
“We have the ability to self harm, to self destruct, in a game where we let four terrible goals in.
“For 75 minutes, it was 2-1 and they’ve had three shots at goal, two from 30 yards and somehow they’re winning in the game.
“We were 2-1 down at half-time where we felt we shouldn’t have been, as we’d done a lot right. We were in total ascendency and they don’t even want to score any more goals, they want to hang onto what they’ve got and we gift them another two goals.
“I’ve just looked back at the goals and they’re very hard to defend. We actually played well box to box but you can’t say you’ve played well when we’ve conceded the goals that we have.
“It’s a damaging and really disappointing night and I’m really angry. We just did the basics so poorly.”
Colchester remain three points above Sutton United heading into the final day. A trip to Crewe Alexandra awaits, with their relegation rivals travelling to MK Dons. Although tough on paper, the Buckinghamshire-based club cannot finish higher or lower than fourth and may be tempted to rest players ahead of their play-off semi-final clash early next month.
Writer’s View
Danny Cowley would have liked to have got the job done last night but that was always going to be a tough ask against a team that have forgotten how to lose. They are still heavy favourites to avoid the drop, with a three point gap and superior goal difference in their favour. However, League Two is always full of surprises and there may be one more twist in the tale yet.
Colchester cannot rely on other results and must go for the jugular at the Mornflake Stadium. It’s going to be a tense final day.
Head of Writing
