COLCHESTER United's play-off hopes were dashed by a second-half onslaught from Stoke City in a bad-tempered Championship encounter at the Britannia Stadium this afternoon.
By Carl Marston
COLCHESTER United's play-off hopes were dashed by a second-half onslaught from Stoke City in a bad-tempered Championship encounter at the Britannia Stadium this afternoon.
It was looking so promising for the U's when ex-Stoke favourite Chris Iwelumo converted a 38th minute penalty, to give the visitors a half-time lead.
But Stoke rallied strongly after the break, and three goals inside a nine-minute spell from Darel Russell, Mamady Sidibe and Danny Higginbotham turned this game on its head. The goals arrived in the 53rd, 57th and 62nd minutes.
Colchester's cause was not helped by Chris Barker's dismissal in the 78th minute, following an off-the-ball clash with Lee Hendrie. In all, there were eight bookings and one red card.
The U's needed at least a draw from this fixture to stand a chance of sneaking into the play-offs on the final day of the season.
It wasn't to be, but they gave it a terrific go. Stoke, by contrast, are very much in the play-off shake-up moving into next Sunday's final round of matches.
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