QPR U18 (2) – Colchester United U18 (0) – Welcome back Paul Furlong

Professional Development League 2

Team: Dickinson, Williams-Lowe, Woollard-Innocent, Mesias, Drewe, Gubbins, Brooks, Remy, Platt, Bansal-McNulty, Francis-Adeyinka

Sub Not Used: Bowman

I missed the first-half mainly due to big problems on the Piccadilly Line. Anyway, ChrisPTenner kindly handed me a team sheet upon my arrival and informed me that the R’s were two up.

Shiloh Remy had scored the first goal after 10 minutes with a glancing header from Amrit Bansal-McNulty’s corner.

On 31 minutes Mickel Platt had doubled the lead with a header from Marcus Brooks’s cross.

Furthermore, Rangers were denied a blatant penalty when Bansal-McNulty had been clearly fouled in the box.

For some reason Colchester didn’t have a goalkeeper available so Harvey White filled in for them.

However, the biggest news was that Paul Furlong was back at the helm after a long absence.

Early in the second-half, Tyla Dickinson stood strong to deny the visitors, which in fact, I was told, was his first save of the match.

Paul Furlong brought on Nathan Carlyle and Charley Kendall at the expense of Mickel Platt and Amrit Bansal-McNulty respectively.

Mr Barry harshly booked Aaron Drewe for what appeared to be a 50/50 challenge.

The final change was made when Jardel Francis-Adeyinka was replaced by Archie Morris.

It was refreshing to see both sides playing football. No long ball, but plenty of good movement and crisp passing.

Shiloh Remy was suffering seemingly with cramp and Joe Gubbins received a yellow card in the closing stages.

The resulting free kick from just outside the box was aimed directly at Tyla Dickinson and the full-time whistle soon followed.

This was their first competitive game since the FA Youth Cup defeat against Charlton Athletic on 12th December.

Steve Russell