Alex Gilbey's second-half equaliser earns Boro a point at The Lamex...
Stevenage returned to The Lamex Stadium for a jam-packed April as the race for automatic promotion approached boiling point. Steve Evans made four changes from the starting eleven that earned a point against Northampton the weekend prior.
New goalkeeper Thimothee Lo-Tutala was brought in for the injured Jon McCracken who had returned to his parent club Norwich City. Elsewhere on the pitch, Jake Forster-Caskey, Jamie Reid and Danny Rose replaced Jake Reeves, Dean Campbell and Luke Norris.
Boro started brightly as they looked to take an early lead. Danny Rose’s impressive heading ability came into play early on, as his headed effort was tipped over the bar by Kieran O’Hara. The Colchester stopper was called into action again shortly after as he denied Piergianni’s header from close range.
After seventeen minutes, Colchester took a surprise lead. A cross into the box was not completely dealt with as Connor Hall fired home to put the visitors in front.
Despite the set-back, Boro remained largely on the front foot but hadn’t threatened Kieran O’Hara as much as they would’ve wished. Alex Gilbey attempted to flick the ball on goal with his head, but O’Hara caught with ease.
The remainder of the half was quiet from both sides with very little action happening in either box. There were strong claims for a penalty to Stevenage minutes before the interval as a Colchester defender appeared to have handballed it inside the area, but the referee dismissed the claims.
After some Colchester offence in the closing stages of the half, the referee blew his whistle to send the visitors into the break with a one-goal advantage.
Clearly, Steve Evans’ half-time words were acknowledged as, just two minutes into the second half, Stevenage equalised. Jordan Roberts carried the ball forward before laying it off to Alex Gilbey who tucked it under the goalkeeper from a tight angle to level the scoring.
Just before the hour mark, Evans made his first substitution of the afternoon in a bid to win the game as former Colchester man Luke Norris replaced Jamie Reid up top.
The U’s came close to regaining their lead shortly after as Luke Chambers headed on goal from the back post, but Thimothee Lo-Tutala pulled off a miraculous save to keep the score level.
Luke Norris looked lively after being introduced and nearly grabbed his side’s second of the afternoon. Jordan Roberts ran to the bar-line before squaring it to Norris who fired wide.
Fifteen minutes plus added time remained and Stevenage were the only side who really looked to threaten the opposition. Luke Norris superbly won his side a corner, which was headed out only to Alex Gilbey who fired on goal, but his effort was denied by Kieran O’Hara.
With ten minutes to go, substitute Luke Norris was helped off the pitch after suffering an injury and was replaced by Jake Taylor. Then, two more subs were made in the closing stages as Michael Bostwick and Daryl Horgan replaced Terence Vancooten and Jake Forster-Caskey.
Horgan almost made immediate impact as his delightful corner found the head of Carl Piergianni whose headed effort was blocked from close range.
Seven additional minutes were to be played as the Boro faithful got behind their team. Danny Rose won his side a free kick on the edge of the area but Jordan Roberts headed the delivery wide.
Stevenage had the ball in the back of the net with just moments remaining as Jake Taylor tapped it into an empty net, but the referee blew for a foul on the goalkeeper.
With ultimately nothing to split the sides in additional time, the referee blew his final whistle to send both teams home with a point. Boro travel to Hartlepool on Easter Monday in search of three points.
Attendance: 4,763 including 624 away supporters.