EFL League 2: Colchester United 0-2 Barrow AFC

23rd August 2025

Colchester United vs Barrow AFC @ Colchester Community Stadium

EFL League Two

15:00 KO

£24.50 entry

Attendance - 4,512 (approx. 100 away fans)

Half-time score: Colchester United 0-1 Barrow AFC

Goals:

Barrow AFC: Earing - 9'

Barrow AFC: Shipley - 72'

Brief match highlights are on YouTube, see link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9ZXU-nPPZk

Final Score: Colchester United 0-2 Barrow AFC

With everything going on, I have been unable to get to any Col U games this season. I had the season opener against at home against Tranmere Rovers pencilled in, however, Thetford Town's FA Cup away trip to Histon was the more enticing prospect. Coincidentally, my last Col U game was on the final day of the 24/25 season when Col U hosted Barrow AFC, and that is exactly the same fixture as this afternoon, in fact this is 4 years in a row I've seen the U's play Barrow AFC at home, always seems to be a fixture that falls nicely for me. Looking back at the scores I've seen two draws and a loss, so clearly a team we struggle against, but surely time to get a home win against the Cumbrians who are far from home?

Following an excellent second-half of last season and with the Cowley's still on-board, hopes for a strong 25/26 season were high. There were even US investors ready to come aboard and large transfer budgets were being discussed, but this all fell through in the final hour, and with Robbie Cowling still at the helm and wanting to sell he slashed the budget, purportedly half that of fellow East Anglian's Cambridge United. This has seen keen players leave in Mandela Egbo, Fiacre Kelleher and Lyle Taylor, who has been one of my favourite Col U players for many years such was his impact, this one still hurts. There was also news prior to kick-off that right winger Oscar Thorn may also be off to a League One club...The off-field issues have also seen Col U struggle to recruit, and where we have recruited the players have since succumbed to injuries, Will Goodwin the new striker out after one game and midfield dynamo Ben Perry who looked brilliant in the first 3 games out for the entire season!! On the injury front, the influential Ellis Iandolo is also out for a while sadly, one of our best players last season. Having said all this, we still have a strong core to the side who have remained together since last year including Jack Payne recently voted into the 24/25 League Two team of the year, and some exciting new blood, with Kyreece Lisbie looking a fantastic prospect, Jaden Williams has potential, Dominic Gape will have a pivotal role to play in the middle and Adrian Akande from Reading FC looks another interesting signing. I still think this could be a mid-table season, but if the team gel and Tovide starts firing, who knows what could happen. All I know is all I can do as a fan is get behind the team, so of course I headed into S1, back row, to make some noise!

On the programme front, another sore subject unfortunately. The brilliant printed and complimentary programmes have been consigned to the dustbin of history. Many Col U fans have been up in arms about this, especially as the tickets have gone up £2....There is an online programme available, but it really isn't the same, bit shit really especially as the signal in the ground is abysmal so cannot download it there, horrible decision all-round. Hopefully if the US investors return they reinstate the printed matchday programme.

It was a grey, mild summer's day, and Col U's flag show before kick-off was still going strong. Coming out into the noise the teams lined-up, Col U in blue and white stripes, with Barrow AFC in their away all yellow strip.

KEY MOMENTS

CU = Colchester United

BA = Barrow AFC

8' - CU - Tucker with a direct pass into Read, he turns, and from 20yrds powers in a left-footed effort, it is well struck but flies just wide of the post.

9' - BA - GOAL (0-1) - Barrow intercept a poor pass from Flanagan and quickly get the ball out to Barkhuizen down the right, he sprints down the wing and is able to get beyond Powell to whip in the cross, Earing is in the middle unmarked and gets his head on the ball, it is straight at Macey but at pace, the ball bounces off Macey and back into his path and he sweeps the ball into the net on the follow-up, the visitors with an early lead.

19' - CU - Read sets Tovide free down the left, he drives forwards and shoots at the near-post, but keeper Stanway is equal to the effort.

20' - CU - Edwards with a low diagonal ball across to Tovide, he turns and snaps in a strike with his first touch, but the effort skips wide of the far-post.

26' - CU - Payne gets past his man and feeds Read, he attempts a curling effort from the edge of the box, it is close but narrowly over, hitting the stanchion on the way through.

34' - CU - Read is gifted the ball in the Barrow half, he bursts forward and draws the defender before sliding it out to Payne, he skips through several challenges but his eventual strike is fired over.

52' - CU - Bishop releases Tovide, the striker beating the offside trap, he races to the byline and crosses the ball into the danger area, Payne is in the middle and hits a side-footed volley, I thought it was flying in but it is agonisingly wide of the far-post, so unlucky!

62' - CU - Col U with a free-kick in a dangerous position, Read lines it up and it looks like he was going to try and dip the ball into the net over the wall, but as the wall jumps he drills in a daisy cutter towards the bottom right corner, every is surprised, but Stanway, seeing the ball at the last moment, gets down low to make the stop.

70' - CU - Substitute Lisbie down the right, he crosses the ball into the box and it flies off a Barrow arm and out, nothing given and the game plays on.

72' - BA - GOAL (0-2) - Disaster for the U's against the run of play. In the lead up the referee awards two very soft fouls, the second of which sees Barrow's Booty cross the ball into the box from a free-kick, Col U fail to clear and with Shipley beats Macey to the ball, his bullet header flying into the net, couldn't see the U's getting back into this one now.

82' - CU - Tovide steals the ball deep in the Barrow half, he is unable to shoot under pressure so gets the ball to substitute Akande, who also has no space so he centralises it to fellow substitute Williams who hits a 20yrd effort, well struck but it curls just beyond the top right corner.

83' - CU - Col U strike through the middle, the ball ricochets off a Barrow defender and falls into the path of Williams, he drills the ball towards the bottom right corner, it looks like it is heading in but Stanway gets down low to make another fine save.

94' - CU - Col U pinning Barrow in their box, Lisbie receives the ball on the left and fires in at the near-post, but Stanway is on-hand to turn the ball round the post for a corner.

95' - CU - From the corner the ball drops in the box, efforts fly in from Tucker and Akande but both are blocked, I think the second effort comes off a Col U attacker.....

A terrible result, but not a terrible performance, I do not know how Col U did not score in that game, we had 24 shots, 67% possession and multiple good chances, that either skimmed wide or were stopped by an in-form Wyll Stanway. The goals conceded were poor and were Barrow's only real chances of the game, but again Col U failed to deal with crosses into the box ultimately, a big weak-point for sure. The second goal was the sucker-punch, the referee made two bizarre decisions in 20 seconds to give Barrow two very soft free-kicks, in fact the first one saw Lisbie tugged back, but he was adjudged to have fouled the Barrow player? It was a common theme, Barrow winning free-kicks at the slightest contact, but Col U players getting yanked backwards and receiving nothing, there was even one moment when a Barrow player chests the ball out and the referee awards Barrow the throw-in.....We sing we only get shit refs, but we really do seems to get some awful luck with decisions, I'm bored writing about it to be honest. Barrow AFC are certainly proving to be a bogey side for Col U, they seems to be street-smart and happy to sit back and absorb pressure, as well as being a big physical side, Col U need to work out a way to beat teams like these as a lot of the Northern sides follow this template. Looking at Col U, the midfield fulcrum of Jack Payne and Arthur Read were phenomenal, doing everything except putting the ball into the net. The wingers seemed to struggle most of the game, although Edwards had a couple of big moments, and substitutes Kyreece Lisbie and Jaden Williams made a big impact when on. Regarding Tovide, he is crying out for a strike partner, I hope Goodwin is back from injury soon, I think they could work well together. All-in-all Col U deserved at least a draw today, but it was one of those afternoons. The defeat sees Col U in 17th place in the table, with a tricky game away at Barnet next week, the dreams of promotion are certainly looking a long way off, but I think all it will take is a couple of goals from key players and they will start hitting their stride again, UP THE U'S!!!

Line-Ups:

COLCHESTER UNITED: Matt Macey, Rob Hunt, Jack Tucker, Tom Flanagan (C), Josh Powell, Teddy Bishop, Arthur Read, John-Kymani Gordon, Jack Payne, Owura Edwards, Samson Tovide. SUBS: Kyreece Lisbie, Jaden Williams, Jack Baldwin, Adrian Akande, Kane Vincent-Young, Tom Smith, Dominic Gape.

BARROW AFC: Wyll Stanway, Lewis Shipley, Niall Canavan (C), Charlie Raglan, Regan Booty, Jack Earing, Scott Smith, Ben Jackson, Tom Barkhuizen, Tyler Walker, Connor Mahoney. SUBS: Elliot Newby, Innes Cameron, Ben Whitfield, Katia Kouyate, David Worrall, Ben Winterbottom, Kerr Smith.