Ex-U’s man Guy is on the mend

JUST nine months ago, former Colchester United striker Jamie Guy was left wondering whether he would ever walk properly again, following a horrific leg injury.

But now the Braintree Town front-runner is back playing football, after marking his return to competitive action in dynamic fashion with a quickfire hat-trick for the Iron Reserves on Saturday.

Guy was only on the pitch for 25 minutes against Felixstowe & Walton United, but that didn’t stop him scoring three goals in this Ridgeons Reserve League fixture.

The ex-U’s man, who graduated from the youth team to make 52 league appearances for United (2004-10), is planning to play for longer in another outing for Braintree Reserves this week, although it will still be a few weeks before he is pushing for a place in Braintree’s Blue Square Premier team.

Instead, Iron manager Alan Devonshire is toying with the idea of loaning out Guy for a month, so that the 24-year-old can get some full games under his belt.

“It’s fantastic news that Jamie is back, and quicker than expected,” enthused Devonshire yesterday.

“We are taking it one step at a time at the moment, but Jamie has been back training with the first team for the last couple of weeks.

“It is a big boost for the club, to have Jamie back in the fold again, but rather than him sit around on the first team bench, waiting to get a few minutes here and there, we are considering loaning him out for a month.

“But Jamie will hopefully have a big part to play, during the second half of the season. He might even be back before Christmas.

“He’s a confident lad. I’m really pleased for him. He deserves it, because he has put a lot of work in. I have a lot of time for Jamie,” added Devonshire.

Guy was a member of the Iron’s Blue Square South promotion-winning squad of last season, although his campaign was cruelly ended by a terrible collision with Eastleigh keeper Gareth Barfoot, during a league clash in February.

Guy, 24, was left with a double open fractured leg. It was a career-threatening injury, but he has already proved the sceptics wrong.

Although he made 52 league appearances for Colchester, 50 of these were as a substitute.

Guy’s best years with the U’s were at the start of the club’s first season in the Championship, when he scored three goals – at West Brom, Coventry and against Cardiff.