Colchester welcomes Barrow to the Colchester Community Stadium this Saturday in matchday 19 of the League Two season. Barrow will be looking to climb further into the Play-offs whereas Colchester will aim to build the buffer between them and the relegation zone.
Colchester currently sit 17th in League Two after 18 games. The U’s have six wins, two draws and ten losses which leaves them on 20 points, six points above the relegation zone and on equal points with three other teams.
In their last five games in all competitions, Colchester have two wins, one draw and two losses. Cameron McGeehan opened the scoring for Colchester but goals from Daniel Udoh and Jordan Shipley along with an own goal from Connor Hall gave Shrewsbury the 3 - 1 lead going into the later stages of the game. Zach Mitchell did score late on but it wasn’t enough as Shrewsbury won 3 - 2. Colchester bounced back against Swindon Town next time out. Jake Young scored first for Swindon but goals from McGeehan, Samson Tovide and Noah Chilvers gave Colchester the 3 - 1 win.
Arthur Read thought he had won it for Colchester with his goal in the 80th minute, but a goal from Omar Sowunmi in the 95th minute rescued a 1 - 1 draw for Sutton United. Kyle Wootton and Callum Camps both scored in the 2 - 0 win for Stockport despite Colchester having more shots on target than Stockport.
The last time out for Colchester was in the Football League Trophy against Peterborough. Bradley Ihionvien scored the only goal of the game for Colchester just before halftime in the 1 - 0 win for The Us.
Barrow, on the other hand, sit sixth in League Two in the final Play-off place. In 18 games, Barrow have eight wins, seven draws and three losses, leaving them on 31 points, just four points from the automatic promotion places.
In their last five games in all competitions, Barrow have five wins. Dom Telford scored the only goal of the game in the first half as Barrow beat Morecambe 1 - 0, with The Shrimps failing to register a single shot on target. In the First round of the FA Cup, Barrow travelled to Northampton Town. Emile Acquah opened the scoring for Barrow, but Mitch Pinnock scored to make it level at halftime. However, goals from Tom White and Ben Whitfield gave Barrow the 3 - 1 win.
In the Football League Trophy, Barrow hosted Liverpool’s U21 team. Mateusz Musiałowski drew first blood for Liverpool but goals from Sean Etaluku and Mazeed Ogungbo gave Barrow a 2 - 1 win despite Liverpool having more of the possession. Back in League Two, Barrow travelled to Bradford City. Telford opened the scoring in the first minute of the game, but a goal from Tyler Smith meant the first half ended level. George Ray’s goal in the 77th minute gave Barrow the 2 - 1 win with only 34% of the possession.
The most recent outing for Barrow was against Crawley Town. Telford scored once again for Barrow with the only goal of the game in the 1 - 0 win for Barrow.
Colchester and Barrow have only met 16 times in their histories despite the first meeting coming back in 1961. Barrow has a marginal advantage in the fixture with six wins in comparison to Barrow’s four wins, with the other six games ending in a draw.
