15th November 1999 

More Colchester reports

ATHLETIC'S Gary Kelly will be in the international spotlight this week after being called into Ireland's squad for the Euro 2000 play-offs. The 33-year-old goalkeeper replaces his injured younger brother, Alan, and will be on the bench for the big game in Turkey. 

Kelly has never won a full cap for the Republic, despite playing for the `B' team and featuring in several senior squads. He will act as back-up for Charlton's Dean Kiely, who starts his first match after replacing Kelly junior in the first-leg draw in Dublin on Saturday. The Athletic 'keeper was contacted yesterday morning by Irish boss Mick McCarthy. After playing in the defeat against Colchester, he immediately set off to join his international team-mates. 

It is a fine reward for Kelly, who was put on alert when Newcastle's Shay Given was ruled out by injury. He has been one of Athletic's most reliable players this season and, even though he is benefiting from his brother's bad luck, is delighted to be involved in such a high-profile clash. Athletic added to their squad today when Leigh RMI centre-back Paul Jones signed a contract until the end of the season. Jones (21), who was released by Tranmere two years ago, has played three games on trial and will add much-needed cover to a defence beset by injuries. 

Shaun Garnett is close to returning, but Stuart Thom remains on the casualty list and Richard Graham pulled out of yesterday's match because of a bad back. It is unclear whether Graham will be fit to face Swansea in the FA Cup on Saturday, while the same applies to Neil Adams, who limped off yesterday with a tight hamstring. Mark Innes was left out of the squad after having an ingrowing toenail removed on Friday. His absence allowed fellow 21-year-old Danny Walsh to be named among the substitutes, but Athletic are hoping that Innes will be fit for weekend.

LATICS FAIL TO SPARK

FOR a team with so many reasons to be cheerful, Athletic showed a remarkable lack of spark and spirit against bottom club Colchester. This was their Sunday worst — a performance missing virtually all of the positive things they have strived to develop in the last few weeks. They didn’t deserve to lose, but neither did they have enough sharpness to exploit the dominance they enjoyed throughout. Colchester, winless in 12 games and saddled with the weakest defence in the division, held on with few alarms after a 63rd-minute penalty put them ahead for a second time. Athletic’s biggest problem was that they did not show the movement which had served them so well in a sequence of one defeat in eight matches. Too many attacks were scuppered by a lack of options, with square passes leading to a move backwards instead of being the prelude to something more threatening. As a result, Athletic were unable to make enough inroads against opponents who spent most of the afternoon plugging gaps.

It did not help that John Sheridan, who is usually so adept at finding those spaces, was well below his best. Athletic also missed Richard Graham’s distribution from the back after the stylish defender pulled out with an injury. But the side as a whole was hopelessly off colour, with only Scott McNiven, Lee Duxbury and goalscorer Craig Dudley remotely doing themselves justice. They were too easily beaten to the ball and had a shortage of alertness in all areas. There was also a tendency to lose their defensive cool, another feature which made Graham’s absence so keenly felt. Graham was replaced by 18-year-old Ben Futcher, making his full debut after impressing three times as a substitute. Although the rookie didn’t perform too badly, there was no commanding presence in a defence which also contained three 21-year-olds. That meant that, for all Athletic’s possession, Colchester were always liable to nick a goal. Karl Duguid was a frequent threat for the visitors, while Zaire-born teenager Lomana Tresor Lua Lua occasionally crackled menacingly into life.

Even the arrival of supersub Steve Whitehall couldn’t work the oracle this time as Athletic continued to huff and puff with too little force. Much of their football was aimless and, surprisingly, they seemed to lack the belief that anything would come of their efforts. It was Athletic who mustered the first shot in anger when Duxbury delivered a 30-yard drive which goalkeeper John Vaughan — making his debut on loan from Lincoln City — did well to tip over the bar. The scrappy opening period set the tone for the game, but Dudley did his best to compensate by always seeking out space behind the full-backs. From one such break, Dudley crossed for Mark Allott, who was unable to wrap his foot around the ball and shot wide from eight yards. Vaughan then showed his agility again to save Sheridan’s fizzing free-kick after a deflection off the wall while, in the 25th minute, Athletic had to bundle away a header by David Greene. Colchester, like so many away teams, were aiming to soak up the pressure and play on the break. They weren’t too convincing, however, and it came as a surprise when Lua Lua’s first flash of inspiration gave them the lead. Two minutes into first-half injury time, Athletic failed to clear their lines despite having three chances to do so.

The ball broke to Lua Lua, who slammed a terrific low drive into the bottom corner from 20 yards. But Colchester’s advantage was short-lived as, just 40 seconds after the break, Dudley grabbed his fourth goal in six matches. Dudley himself was fouled wide on the left and, when Neil Adams swung over the free-kick, the striker moved quickest to glance a delicate header inside the far post from eight yards. Dudley had two more openings shortly after, the second leading to strong penalty claims when Vaughan failed to gather and Duxbury went down in pursuit of the rebound. There was then a long stoppage as Duguid was carried off unconscious following a clash of heads. Yet Colchester turned the setback to their advantage by catching Athletic half-asleep immediately after the restart.

With chaos reigning in the penalty area, Lua Lua rounded Gary Kelly, only to have his trailing leg caught by the Oldham goalkeeper. There was little doubt about the penalty verdict and Greene stepped forward to hammer the spot-kick as straight as an arrow as Kelly dived to his left. Kelly did well to keep out Joe Keith’s header, while Vaughan saved from Whitehall as Athletic, who also had more penalty appeals waved away, played their familiar trump card. But they did so in vain and are now back within reach of the relegation battlers. While Athletic are certainly good enough to kill off that particular threat, they simply cannot afford to continue losing so often at Boundary Park.

No passion, no movement, no enthusiasm, says Ritchie

ANDY RITCHIE admitted his team had been woefully below their best during the fifth home defeat of the season. The Athletic boss, who was also unhappy with the officials, pinpointed a host of reasons for the disappointing slump. “We didn’t really play well at any stage,” Ritchie said. “There was no movement, no passion and no enthusiasm. We were hesitant, our passing was terrible and we sat too deep. “We were shouting from the bench and telling them to push up, but we still allowed Colchester to hit the front men too often. “Once in a while I’d like to see an opposition forward put into row Z, but we were bad collectively and didn’t press home any advantage. “We have let ourselves down because we had a good position from which to push up the league and we have let it slip again. “If we don’t show more ideas against Swansea in the cup next week, we are going to struggle.” Ritchie also reeled off a catalogue of decisions he felt had gone in Colchester’s favour.

He claimed: “On their first goal, John Sheridan miskicked because he was being held back. It should have been a free-kick. “Then there was the incident when (David) Greene was booked for elbowing Craig Dudley in the face. If that was the offence, he should have been sent off. “We also had a penalty appeal when almost the entire team went up for it — you don’t do that for nothing. “And I’ve no complaints about their penalty, but the ball had already gone out for a throw-in a few seconds before. “Their lad was at least half a yard off the pitch and you wonder why these things aren’t noticed. “Mind you, even then we should have stopped them scoring. When the Colchester player was carried off, we just switched off and didn’t speak to each other. “Instead of that we stood around and gave them the chance to come back at us. It was a bad lapse in concentration.” Ritchie gave a mention to defender Ben Futcher, who made his full debut at the age of 18. He said: “Richard Graham’s back seized up and his movement was restricted, so we were rather forced to shove young Ben on. “We have to find out if he is up to it and, in the main, he didn’t do that badly.”