Wordsworth proves his worth
A SUBLIME free-kick from substitute Anthony Wordsworth five minutes from time sealed the win for Colchester over non-league side Histon.
Stuart Watson
A SUBLIME free-kick from substitute Anthony Wordsworth five minutes from time sealed the win for Colchester over non-league side Histon.
The 20-year-old second-half replacement curled the ball into the top corner from the edge of the box to settle an otherwise forgettable pre-season match.
Histon - who missed out on promotion to the Football League last season after a play-off semi-final defeat - more than held their own against their League One visitors.
The U's dealt with Histon's aerial threat from set pieces well, and were eventually able to seal the win in a drab match which had looked to have 0-0 written all over it.
Paul Lambert travelled to Cambridgeshire with his strongest 20-man squad - including all six of his summer signings. Meanwhile, Johnnie Jackson, Phil Ifil, John White, Matt Lockwood, Medy Elito and Jamie Guy were all left behind as Lambert looks to offload potentially all six before the big kick-off at Norwich City on August 8.
Most Read
- 1 Two Suffolk beaches named among best in Britain for a winter walk
- 2 Eight centre-backs Ipswich Town could turn to this month
- 3 First look inside Ipswich's new Tim Hortons ahead of opening
- 4 Woman who claimed council tax support had income of £100k per year
- 5 A14 reopens after 'serious' crash involving three lorries
- 6 Frustration as temporary traffic lights left in place for nearly a year
- 7 Meet the man who has documented the entire history of a Suffolk village
- 8 Woman jailed for harassing behaviour in Bury St Edmunds
- 9 Suffolk landlord 'over the moon' to be named pub of the month
- 10 'If we're clever there's lots to learn' - McKenna on Town's Bolton lessons
It took Colchester until the 12th minute to fashion a half chance, but new French signing Joel Thomas scuffed his effort from outside of the box wide.
Colchester's best chance of a largely uneventful and frustrating first half came five minutes before the interval when a loose ball in the box ran to Thomas, but he fired well over from 12 yards.
Lambert made a triple substitution after 62 minutes and one of those replacements, Anthony Wordsworth, almost made an immediate impact when he fired just over the bar.
Wordsworth scored what proved to be the winner with five minutes remaining courtesy of a delightful free-kick.
Teams
Histon: Danny Naisbitt, Lanre Oyebanjo (Craig Pope 55), Gareth Gwillim, Adam Tann, Matthew Langston, Jamie Barker, Lee Smith (Adam Bygrave 46), Josh Simpson (Neil Andrews 75), Danny Wright (Keiran Leabon 46), Michael Frew (Lee Roache 82), Nathaniel Knight-Percival (John Kennedy 46). Unused Subs: Joe Welch, Adam Bygrave, Callum Stewart, David Obaze.
Colchester Utd: Mark Cousins (Ben Williams 46), Alan Maybury, Marc Tierney, Pat Baldwin, Magnus Okuonghae, Dean Hammond (Kem Izzet 62), David Perkins (David Fox 62), Ashley Vincent (Anthony Wordsworth 62), Simon Hackney, Joel Thomas (Clive Platt 46), Scott Vernon. Unused Subs: Sam Corcoran, Russell Malton, Gary Holt, Matt Heath.
