Ten-man Colchester United are buried by another goal-avalanche
Tom Eastman, who was sent off at Bury this afternoon, when the U's were leading 2-0 - Credit: Archant
Bury 5 Colchester United 2
Colchester United lost a 2-0 lead in spectacular fashion at Bury this afternoon, eventually subsiding to a heavy 5-2 defeat.
The U’s had cantered into an early 2-0 lead, but they suffered a huge setback when centre-half Tom Eastman was sent off in the 33rd minute.
The Shakers took full advantage, especially midfielder Andrew Tutte, who netted a hat-trick.
It now means that the U’s have equalled an unwanted club record of 18 league games without a victory, set during the 1988-89 season.
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They have not won a league match since a 2-1 win over Port Vale on October 20, 2015, a distant 123 days ago.
It had all looked so rosy for Colchester, when they breezed into a two-goal lead inside the first 20 minutes.
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Chris Porter broke the deadlock after just four minutes, tucking home Gavin Massey’s accurate low cross with a clinical shot on the turn, from 10 yards out.
And Massey doubled the U’s lead in the 17th minute, bursting uncontested through the middle and bundling the ball over the line, at the second time of asking, despite almost losing his balance.
But the game turned on the sending-off of Tom Eastman, in the 33rd minute.
Booked for an earlier challenge on Leon Clarke, Eastman was then shown a second yellow and ensuing red for another foul on striker Clarke. That looked a harsh decision.
Bury reduced the deficit from the ensuing free-kick, with Ryan Lowe meeting Tutte’s free-kick with a stooping header, the ball cannoning in off the inside of the far post.
Ten-man Colchester held onto their 2-1 lead until half-time, but they were then blown away inside the first 17 minutes of the second period, conceding four unanswered goals.
Tutte celebrated the first of his three goals in the 49th minute, turning home Lowe’s cross from inside the six-yard box.
Three minutes later and Tutte had bagged his second, to put the hosts 3-2 up. The central midfielder cracked in a shot, from a narrow angle, which seemed to take a deflection on its way past an exposed Elliott Parish.
The U’s were on the rack, and right winger Craig Jones made it 4-2 in the 56th minute. It was another close-range effort, this time a header from Jones, following substitute Tom Pope’s initial header across goal.
Tutte completed his hat-trick in the 62nd minute, blasting home an unstoppable 20-yarder to end the rout.
It was the first time a Bury player had scored a hat-trick, ironically since striker Ian Lawson scored three goals in another 5-2 win over Colchester, in 1999.
Squads
BURY: Lawlor, Riley, P Clarke, Cameron, Pugh (sub Hussey, 46), Jones, Tutte, Soares (sub Brown, 46), Mayor, Lowe, L Clarke (sub Pope, 46). Unused subs: Ruddy, Mellis, O’Sullivan, Rose.
COLCHESTER UNITED: Parish, Vincent-Young, Kent, Eastman, Brindley (sub Shorey, 66), Massey, Garvan, Edwards, Ambrose (sub Harney, 34), Bonne, Porter (sub Moncur, 58). Unused subs: Barnes, Wright, Akinwande, Lapslie.
Referee: Mark Brown (East Yorks)
Attendance: 3,428 (118 away fans)
