[ 29 Dec 25 ] GILLS v Colchester United Match Thread

[Garawa]

- Colchester face the Gills for a 3rd time in 16 games. Colchester are unbeaten in the last 4 meetings and have overtaken the Gills with the most wins - their Football League Trophy win made it 33 wins for United, 32 Gills for the Gills and 29 draws.
- Colchester have won 2 of their last 3 home games against the Gills and they are the only wins for the home side in 12 matches (7 games were won by the away side). In all competitions, the Gills are winless in 5 home games against Colchester, last winning on the 28th December 2015.
- Colchester started the season with 2 wins from their first 12 games (1 of which was a Football League trophy win) before winning 8 out of the next 11 league and cup games. Starting with the 0-0 against the Gills at the start of December, Colchester have failed to win 4 of the 5 games since.
- Since back to back away league defeats in September, Colchester have only lost 1 of their 6 league games on the road since (a 3-4 defeat at Salford earlier this month). They have won 3 of those 6 matches, scoring 11 goals in the process.
- Colchester have taken 10 leads in their 11 away league games - the most of any side in League 2. The Gills have managed 11 leads in all 22 home and away matches.
- Colchester's matches have seen the most first half goals scored - 36 (21 for United) in 22 matches. The Gills have seen 11 scored (7 in the last 13) and 12 conceded (including 7 in the last 11).

[Mon 29th December 2025] EFL Sky Bet League 2: Gillingham FC v Colchester United
Opposition Manager: Danny Cowley Matchday Team: Matt Macey, Ellis Iandolo, Harvey Araujo, [c] Jack Tucker, Rob Hunt, Arthur Read, Teddy Bishop, Harry Anderson (Owura Edwards), Jack Payne (Samson Tovide), Kyreece Lisbie, Micah Mbick (Will Goodwin)
Opposition League Position: Sky Bet League 2 (10th)
Referee: Matthew Russell
Attendance: 7,284 (930)

(19.45) Kick Off [ 3 - 4 - 1 - 2 ]
(20.01) Dack misplaces a pass and Anderson ends up free with only Turner to beat but he shoots straight at the Gills 'keeper.
(20.09) Iandolo shoots from distance but it clears the bar.
(20.16) Aaron Rowe does a step over and gets a good shot away which deflects for the Gills' first corner.
(20.21) A Colchester corner leaves the ball undefended and it's eventually stabbed goalward, taking a deflection of of a Colchester player and forces Turner into a brilliant save at full stretch. The header is fiercely volleyed straight at Turner who punches away and gathering the falling ball but is fouled as he did so.
(20.28) Anderson sends a ball across the face of goal. Rowe gets a tiny bit of toe to it to put it out for a corner and denies Lisbie a simple tap in at the far post.
(20.29) A corner for the visitors is cleared to Hunt. He shoots and his deflected effort looked to be going in but Turner gets down quickly.
(20.30) Mbick's turn this time to force Turner into a save.
(20.31) Half time 0-0

(20.46) The second half kicks off.
(20.48) Lisbie goes down in the box. Huge appeals by the visiting fans for a penalty are ignored. So are Gills appeals for simulation and nothing is given.
(20.54) Gale hits the woodwork following a Gills free kick on the edge of the box.
(21.15) GOAL! Gillingham 1-0 Colchester United: McKenzie
(21.16) Having been caught pressing for the first goal, Colchester are slack and Gills steal the ball. It falls to Andrews who shoots narrowly wide from an ideal position to make it 2 goals within a minute.
(21.26) Penalty! Tucker is pulled down by Andy Smith.
(21.27) GOAL! Gillingham 1-1 Colchester United: Read (pen)
(21.31) The 4th official signals for a minimum of NINE additional minutes.
(21.41) FULL TIME 1-1
Max Clark, on the Gills bench, has an altercation with Danny Cowley and it sparks a series of meles. Nevitt and Tovide grab hold of each other. After a few minutes, more battles spark up.
No cards are awarded but retrospective action is likely to happen from the referees final report.

Gills' League Position After Game: 11th
Match Report: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/live/cd9z45j5v48t
Match highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUGw3V8vJhI