Colchester United beaten at AFC Wimbledon in League Two

Sitting ducks

IF ever a match reflected the trials and tribulations currently being experienced by struggling Colchester United, their match at AFC Wimbledon was it.

The U’s more than played their part in an entertaining first half which ebbed and flowed and deserved to be level, at the break.

They looked dangerous in attack and had two goals to show for their efforts before half-time.

READ MORE: Johnnie Jackson reveals key change made against Colchester

The problem was, Colchester also looked extremely vulnerable at the back, which is why they ended up going in at the break on level terms.

It was as if they were sitting ducks.

What followed was a dire second-half performance that resulted in a capitulation that has already been seen on several other occasions, this season.

As former U’s midfielder Johnnie Jackson reflected afterwards, his AFC Wimbledon side could easily have finished the game with seven or eight goals.

Incredibly, the hosts had a total of 31 shots on the Colchester goal, a stark reflection of the alarming amount of space they were afforded in the final third.

The five goals shell-shocked Colchester conceded – fundamentally a result of ill-discipline, a lack of responsibility and a general all-round sloppiness – means that alarmingly, they have now conceded 51 times in the league at the midway point of this campaign, the same number of goals they conceded in the entirety of last season.

Seeing red

CAMERON McGeehan’s late dismissal at AFC Wimbledon seemed to compound Colchester United’s misery, on Friday night.

The experienced midfielder will probably feel that his second yellow card in the closing stages of the 5-3 defeat was harsh but he will now be suspended again after another dismissal and Colchester’s ill-discipline this season is proving costly.

Colchester have now had six red cards in total this season and have one of the worst disciplinary records in League Two, having picked up 59 yellow cards.

Vulnerable U's

WHEN you score three goals away from home, you more often than not take something from the game.

But the fact that Colchester United came away from South-West London empty handed having done just that says much about the defensive vulnerability that is evident in their game.

The unfortunate truth is that even when the U’s led 2-1 in the first half, few U’s supporters in the away end at Plough Lane will have felt confident of them defending their lead and going on to win the game.

READ MORE: Colchester fans have their say on AFC Wimbledon defeat

Colchester have conceded more shots per game (16.1) than any other team in League Two so far this season and it showed against Wimbledon, who were able to pick off the visitors and claim victory.

Tough times

MATTY Etherington has been in football for a long time; he knows the inevitability of the outcome if Colchester United continue to lose football matches.

The U’s head coach tried hard to make sense of his side’s insipid second-half performance at AFC Wimbledon in his post-match press conference but he knows that ultimately, the buck always stops with the head coach in situations like this.

Etherington is still confident he can turn Colchester’s fortunes around but after seven defeats in eight matches, it is a tough situation for the U’s boss to be in.

After disappointing back-to-back defeats, he has to somehow rally his troops for their game against Gillingham on New Year’s Day and hope that a combination of returning players and January reinforcements can provide the lift both he and his players so desperately need, heading into the second half of the season.

Awesome Arthur

THERE’S little for Colchester United fans to celebrate at the moment but the form of Arthur Read is at least something to acknowledge.

It’s almost a year since the U’s signed the midfielder from Stevenage and he has gone from strength to strength, despite the club’s overall struggles on the pitch.

Read’s performance against AFC Wimbledon epitomised the character and drive he has shown since arriving at Colchester.

He never, ever gave up the cause, even after suffering what looked like a nasty ankle knock early in the second half.

The fact that Read battled on epitomised his overall attitude and character and the U’s will need plenty more of that, between now and the end of the season.