Jab’s punch takes its toll

Reporter: by MATTHEW CHAMBERS
Date published: 11 August 2014


Colchester United 2, Oldham Athletic 2

IN an entertaining opening-day draw lit up by Jonathan Forte's jet-set double, it was Jabo Ibehre who showed exactly why Athletic are far from the finished product.

Colchester's lone front man has been around the block and there are not many mysteries to him.

What he brings to the pitch is as predictable as night, day and wrongful imprisonment in Coronation Street.

Rugged lower-division veteran Ibehre barged, bumped, shielded with a backside as large as Terminal One at Stanstead, and missed one glorious chance which would have put his side 2-1 ahead.

All are the sorts of things Athletic have been on the end of on many occasions from the same man.

But at times, a player with

experience of over 400 league games had a vulnerable pairing of James Wilson and Genseric Kusunga scrambling for answers that weren't coming.

Athletic, a goal down after seven minutes due to shoddy set-piece defending capitalised on by U's captain Magnus Okuonghae, levelled thanks to Forte's

rapier-like run and finish and his neat second-half conversion of a very smart team move.

But a front line led by Ibehre looked very potent in the second half and it wasn't too much of a surprise when Colchester levelled through excellent, thrusting substitute, on-loan West Ham man George Moncur.

Jonson Clarke-Harris – who failed to bring his colleagues into the game in a sloppy opening – should take the match DVD home to examine what ex-Stockport man Ibehre, a lesser talent but a more effective performer on the day, did for his side.

“I thought the only problem was Ibehre and his physicality,” said Athletic boss Lee Johnson afterwards.

“We did tell them and show them and it annoys me they still do the wrong things. It drives you insane as a coach.

“But I don't want to be too negative. There were a lot of good things too.”

Athletic are a modern team with a modern motto for the new campaign: 'One Team One Dream'. Keeping the faith is asking a lot after 18 seasons in the same division.

But in the glow-in-the-dark luminous away kit, the start to this game was a nightmare.

With four debutants in the starting XI – Brian Wilson, new captain Liam Kelly, Mike Jones and Forte – Athletic stumbled into the contest and were a goal down when a corner from Craig Eastmond wasn't cleared.

Ibehre had a swipe and a scuff initially when in too much space and closer to goal given the same chance, Okuonghae fired low and beyond a helpless Paul Rachubka.

That was seven minutes in. Up stepped Forte. First he combined well with Mills to earn a corner down the left and then, the former Sheffield United forward sprung forward from halfway.

Past two men left with nothing but dust in their faces, Forte's attempted pass to Clarke-Harris bounced off a defender and back in front of him.

Tom Eastman dallied, allowing Forte to nick in and carefully take the ball round goalkeeper Sam Walker and slot home into an empty net.

Clarke-Harris headed over when on the stretch, Kusunga narrowly avoided connecting with a corner and Carl Winchester came off equal when launching into a brutal 50-50 block tackle. Lightweight, eh?

Ibehre's big chance came 10 minutes before the interval. A through ball to him was misdirected, but pinballed off a leg into his path. Clean through, he lobbed inches wide as Rachubka emerged from his goal.

It was end-to-end stuff and Forte's subsequent goal threatened to make Colchester pay for their profligacy.

A sweet move down the right set up the chance. Clarke-Harris bent his run well and fed Brian Wilson with a deft pass. Entering the area, the former U's captain crossed into the near post and Forte arrived at speed to slam home.

It was something of a surprise that Johnson opted to leave Timothee Dieng on the bench, given his impact in pre-season.

But Winchester, Jones and in particular Kelly were working well and Athletic looked odds-on at half-time to close the game out.

Forte was causing no end of problems. Okuonghae at one stage bared his teeth and screamed for his colleagues to get to grips with the game.

They did just that and proved to be the better side after the interval.

Freddie Sears announced his intent by firing a deflected shot just over from the edge of the box and Alex Gilbey pushed Rachuka all the way with a volley that was tipped away.

The equaliser was brewing and it arrived in the 58th minute. Kusunga lost possession badly after being played into trouble, Sears hit a post from 18 yards out and Moncur made no mistake in hammering in the rebound.

Eight minutes later, Forte's debut went close to becoming legendary. The man who spent all of last season kicking his heels as a Southampton outcast spun and volleyed a foot over after his initial effort was blocked. Both player and his manager held their heads in disbelief it hadn't gone in.

Colchester continued to press with Athletic looking to catch them out on the break. That only changed when George Elokobi was introduced and a tweak in formation to three at the back calmed the game down as both sides accepted the mutually-beneficial stalemate.