JD has declared last week as shocking and it is difficult to dispute that with three defeats including a capitulation to the Clarets in the FA Cup, a defeat to the Magpies in a disappointing game at the WHCS and on Saturday a seemingly unassailable position at half time which translated into a narrow 3-2 defeat.

A shocking week definitely but the U’s can take some positives from Saturday.

I spent the weekend in the West Midlands and made the relatively short journey with my younger son to Gresty Road in good time for kick off. In fact when we arrived inside the ground there were very few Crewe supporters and the Colchester goalkeeping team of Cousins, coach Ademola Bankole (a Crewe legend) and newly signed loanee and wearing 13 John Sullivan, were just emerging from the tunnel for the warm up.

Now rightly or wrongly Mark Cousins has been dropped after receiving some of the blame for the Chelmsford debacle. One thing John Sullivan could not be guilty of was communicating with the players; his voice could be heard commanding the box during the game.

Speaking to some of the faithful who went to Melbourne Park, it was obvious that I had not appreciated just how bad the Chelmsford pitch had been last weekend (the TV pictures suggested that it was not too bad). However it would appear that the pitch had a big influence on poor Sanchez Watt’s injury.

The minute silence to remember those who had died in the Great War was impeccably observed.

With Kem Izzet still out, JD chose the following line up including on the bench newly signed loanee centre back Josh Thompson from Pompey:

Sullivan

Wilson Magnus Eastman Rose

Eastmond Woody Bean

Henderson Ibehre Sears

Subs: Morrison, Massey, Bond, Cousins, White, Doogie, Thompson

Now I was delighted to see Sears, as I had been pushing for his inclusion. Equally I was dismayed to see Hendo in place of Massey.

Now this just goes to show why JD is the manager and not me, because Hendo was inspirational in the first half setting up Freddie’s goal and delightfully chipping Phillips in the Crewe goal. However he did fade in the second half.

Now the Cheshire weather was superb, brilliant sunshine and little breeze and the 138 members of the faithful were accommodated into the Whitby Morrison stand where we basked in the sun by the halfway line. The sunshine though welcome was very low in the sky of course and made us squint when viewing the Gresty Road end that Colchester attacked in the first half.

The U’s made a bright start and attacked with purpose down the right hand side where Henderson, Ibehre and Wilson exchanged passes on a regular basis.

After only three minutes Hendo attacked the fullback and sent in a delicious cross which Sears despatched with some style. Now in truth Colchester not only deserved the lead but were very good value when Magnus found Hendo again who cleverly chipped the keeper and the ball bounced in off the far post for 2-0 after 29 minutes.

Cue great celebrations and the faithful were very vocal and were clearly enjoying this master class. Crewe who had won 2-0 at Doncaster on Tuesday night offered very little and looked out of the contest.

In fact with the inventive Lauri Dalla Valle (on loan from Fulham) making his home debut well marshalled they offered very little in the attacking department.

John Sullivan in fact after a nervous opening when he miskicked two or three times grew into the match and made a telling save from Dalla Valle just before half time. An impressive save diving to his left to keep out the close range effort.

It was good to see that JD had instilled the passing and moving game into the players. They played it out from the back with purpose and passed it to the half way line through the superb Eastmond who looks head and shoulders above the majority of midfield players. Purposeful and very resilient.

Rose is more disciplined in his defensive duties and when attacking remembers to track back to maintain his defensive position when the ball is lost.

Jabo Ibehre is strong on the ball and creates openings for others always looking to win the ball whether on the head, chest, shoulder or through powerful running.

So half time, time for a pie and to consider the comfortable scoreline. The £2.60 meat and potato pie was a Holland pie, pastry crumbly, filling reasonable and certainly warm enough. No forks. The cheeseburger at £3.00 was well cooked and came with a bun and sufficient sauce. I should hasten to add that only the pie was consumed by me! My son ate the burger. Two coffees were well priced at £1.50 and were drinkable and piping hot.

So 2-0 and surely all the U’s had to do was withstand the inevitable storm for the first ten minutes. The Railwaymen who had been derailed by half time, were unfortunately back on track inside 7 minutes of the restart. A ball was played down the right wing for Chuks Aneke (on loan from Arsenal) and Michael Rose stood arm aloft claiming that the player was offside. Sadly there was no flag from the ineffectual assistant on the right hand side and when the ball was knocked into the path of Dalla Valle (who also looked offside) he simply had to knock the ball into the unguarded net. So a soft goal but worse was to come.

A cross seemed to strike Magnus’s hand (I'm still not sure about that) and the referee Mr Ilderton (who had a shocker all afternoon) gleefully pointed to the spot on 64 minutes…

Crewe captain Murphy took the kick and just beat John Sullivan low to his right hand side. Heaven knows what Del Boy would have said but I’m sure that we could have guessed.

So a game that looked safe was now back in the balance at 2-2.

Now over the years I have seen some good encounters at Gresty Road. A Perry Groves hattrick in a 4-1 win was one of the most notable and we did see them off in the FA Cup with the same scoreline more recently.

However the balance of power had shifted at 2-2. JD brought off the tiring Eastmond on 71 minutes and introduced Clinton Morrison.

Clearly defence is not in his vocabulary because Crewe were just beginning to get on top in midfield with the impressive Abdul Osman influential.

When the ball looped over the despairing tackle of Brian Wilson on 74 minutes, somehow Pogba found himself unmarked on the goal line for a simply header and the transformation was complete.

The U’s were certainly not out of the match though. Woody was substituted with Sears on 80 minutes for Massey and Bond respectively. Rose took the captain’s armband.

Now I would have liked to have seen John Joe O’Toole at this stage but obviously JD thought that Andy Bond could have returned to haunt the Railway men where he had recently been on loan. It wasn’t to be. Massey, Morrison, Ibehre and Bean all had shots blocked or over the top in the last 10 minutes. Some time wasting by the Crewe keeper resulted in a total of 5 additional minutes but we couldn’t conjure up an equaliser.

Much disappointment at the final whistle. Crewe had prevailed in a pulsating second half where once again we failed to win after securing a 2-0 lead.

The positives – JD didn’t sacrifice his playing approach, play it from the back, pass and move. Plenty of wing play on both flanks and plenty of corners and opportunities to score.

Get Craig Eastmond signed up and if fit Sanchez Watt as well on season long loans. Sign Jabo Ibehre permanently from MK Dons.

Oh and although the last 7 days has been a disaster, there is enough quality in the side to reach the top six positions, but we cannot afford anymore capitulations when well placed.

Photo: Action Images

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