New boy Joe Garner produced the only goal to earn Town victory in their penultimate pre-season friendly at Colchester tonight. Garner took his tally in warm-up fixtures to an impressive six with a powerful header 12 minutes after the restart of a game that saw a total of 18 substitutions, all in the second half.

The summer recruit from Rangers was introduced at the break by boss Mick McCarthy and but for U’s keeper Sam Walker it could have been a more convincing result in Town’s favour.

Former club captain Terry Butcher was one of many visiting fans to miss the start because of traffic congestion at the A12 exit but there were still around 1,800 in place as skipper for the night David McGoldrick got the action under way — and it was anything but a low-key start as the visitors threatened straight away.

But although Conor McKendry looked to have a shooting opportunity just to the left of Colchester’s goal he elected to cross and the ball was easily headed clear by ex-Town youngster Tom Eastman.

In the sixth minute Dominic Iorfa’s unnecessary foul on Sammie Szmodics was rightly punished and from Sean Murray’s well-struck effort a couple of yards outside the area ex-U’s keeper Dean Gerken opted for a punch to safety.

Town survived a ninth minute scare when Adam Webster sent his headed clearance straight to the feet of Szmodics, who spared the defender’s blushes as his 20-yard effort flew well over.

In a matter of seconds Eastman, first given his senior debut during Roy Keane’s time in charge at Portman Road, produced a smart sliding tackle to dispossess young Ben Morris, who would have otherwise been through with only Sam Walker to beat.

McGoldrick won a corner that came to nothing before Mick McCarthy’s men came within a whisker of breaking the deadlock.

Walker raced a long way out of his area to clear but was left stranded as the ball ran loose for Danny Rowe, who immediately went for goal with an ambitious 40-yard lob.

The ex-Macclesfield winger was just inches away from following up his goal in the 2-1 defeat at Gillingham on Saturday as the ball cleared two home defenders and came down off the underside of the bar.

U’s youngster Cameron James was first to react but he only directed his header to the onrushing McKendry, whose nod was well off target and in any case Walker was able to grab the ball in mid-air as he arrived back in his goalmouth.

Midway through the first half Colchester earned a freekick after Adam McDonnell’s sliding challenge left Tom Lapslie in need of treatment from physio Tony Flynn.

McDonnell was given a ticking-off by referee Tim Robinson when the official would have probably opted to produce the yellow card in a competitive fixture. Gerken was able to gather Murray’s free-kick with no difficulty as he dived low to his left.

But soon afterwards Gerken was well and truly beaten and it needed a goal-line clearance by Myles Kenlock to keep out Eastman’s header before Iorfa headed behind for a corner.

When the ball arrived in the middle again Eastman had another opportunity to find the net but this time the big central defender leaned back to hook well over.

There was a lull of several minutes before McGoldrick picked out the unmarked McKendry with a long-distance crossfield pass but the 18-year-old wide man was high and wide with his shot.

Ten minutes before the break home defender Ryan Jackson, a summer signing after his release by Gillingham, had an opportunity to let fly but completely fluffed his shot and the ball rolled harmlessly wide.

McKendry controlled a fabulous long-distance pass from McDonnell and created the space to have a go but he dragged his firmly struck low drive yards wide of the target.

Manager McCarthy introduced three half-time substitutes and it took one of them, on-loan winger Bersant Celina, very little time to catch the eye.

Within two minutes of the restart he waltzed in from the left to set up Rowe, whose shot was deflected wide for a corner off James. The flag-kick was taken short by Celina to Kenlock, who picked out the Manchester City man’s run into the danger area but from his shot Walker produced an excellent diving save.

The home side hit back when Jackson went past Celina rather easily on the right and from his cross Webster got a vital touch to head clear with Mandron, rushing in behind the defender, looking a good bet to convert.

But in the 57th minute Garner netted the winning goal. Celina sent Kenlock clear to cross for the new recruit to leap above the home defence and direct a firm downward header past Walker from about six yards.

Town made seven substitutions in the 70th minute and before the end Colchester took their number of new faces to eight, and the closest thing to a second goal came just two minutes from the end.

An impressive, surging run and pass by the burgeoning talent that is Downes provided an opportunity for Sears but he was denied a goal on his return to his former club by Walker’s flying save at his near post.

Colchester: Walker, Eastman (Wynter 73), Kent, James, Jackson (Vincent-Young 73), Murray (Slater 79), Szmodics (Issa 79) , Lapslie (Loft 79), Kpekwa (Kinsella 63), Wright (O’Sullivan 79), Mandron (Johnstone 63). Subs not used: Barnes, Gilmartin.

Town: Gerken, Fowler (Chambers 46), Iorfa (Spence 70), Webster (T Smith 70), Kenlock (Knudsen 70) Rowe (Ward 70), Nydam (Downes 70) McDonnell (Bru 70), McKendry (Celina 46), McGoldrick (Sears 70), Morris (Garner 46). Subs not used: Bialkowski, Folami, Webber, Patterson, C Smith, Crowe.

Photo: TWTD

Lathers added 22:35 - Jul 25 I thought Joe Garner couldn't head a ball?! Looks alright to me!
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BlueandTruesince82 added 22:51 - Jul 25 Had we lost this would be awash with comments by now.... just saying.
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bigolconnor added 22:58 - Jul 25 Celina looks like he's going to get a lot of assists this season. Flynn Downes looks assured and a very good player. Garner, good work rate and quality. Iorfa seemed confident and very capable going forward. I'm excited. We've got a lot of forward thinking footballers.
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budgieplucker added 23:05 - Jul 25 First half I thought we struggled to take any real control of the game. Quite an inexperienced line up and I thought at times it showed. Didzy had no real support up front, although I thought Danny Rowe was our best player. Tristram Nydam put in a good shift as well with some nice tidy touches and good confidence on the ball, whilst maybe not quite ready to start in the Championship as a midfielder he looks a better footballer to me than either Knutsen or Kenlock and given he can play at left back I would be highly tempted to give the lad a run there. Adam McDonnell seems to have dropped down the pecking order and whilst again he didn't play badly he doesn't look like he has enough about him to start bossing the midfield in the championship and clearly needs to go on loan to revive his game. I am sorry to have to sound negative about Iorfa but he didn't impress me at all in either centre half or right back position. He looked very awkward and clumsy. Adam Webster was asked to play left centre back and did look rusty. So first half apart from Danny Rowes lob was a disappointing half. Within seconds of the restart having introduced Celina and Garner we looked a different side, immediate purpose about the side a real presence up front and lots of movement. This actually helped the two young lads McConnell and Nydam in midfield because the options for them increased considerably. Garner did look class and rose way above taller defenders to nod in his goal. Celine will be a handful and Didzy looked extra quality with better players around him. After wholesale changes close to the 70 minute mark the further experience players that were brought on provided a much crisper higher tempo game. Kevin Bru again showed that he is a much better footballer than several others in the squad. Spence, Chambers and Smith would be most definitely three of my starting acknowledge 4. Ward and Sears both showed determination and lots of appetite for the game. I still can't help feeling that we still have a lot of fragility and inexperience in the squad, if and a big if we can keep our best players fit then again we can be a match for most teams in the Championship but fear we I'll again suffer injuries and then inconsistent performances.

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OwainG1992 added 23:07 - Jul 25 Very impressed with Garner so far. Genuine hopes of 15/20 goals from him this year.
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cat added 23:41 - Jul 25 Putting grievances aside for a mo!! (Lol) along with Downes, Garner has been very impressive pre season, funnily enough, just watched his wonder goal for Preston on the sky bet advert, AGAIN! Capable that's for sure, he might be the surprise package if he hits the net early, and gets the service of course.
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Bluefox added 23:49 - Jul 25 hmm, agree with most of the comments above — other than those about Iorfa. He looked ok, if not stand out, at centre back, but much more impressive at full back going forward a couple of times at serious pace like Tyrone Mings. I don't think he has come here to sit on the bench — and from McCarthy's comments about his fitness there will be more to come. The arrival of Garner and Celina on the pitch at half time turned the game around fairly dramatically. Downes and Nydam looked exciting prospects, and actually McDonnell looked better than I was expecting with a couple of long raking passes. Also a couple of scything tackles which would have had him in a lot more trouble in a league game. Bru always looks classy at this time of year but seems to fade as the weather gets colder, so I can understand why McCarthy is willing to let him go. Webster playing at left centre back — comfortable on the ball as always although not looking to be at full sharpness yet. Does that mean Tommy Smith's place may be in jeopardy? Overall we kept the ball fairly well — I saw the same game last year when we attempted to pass it around and were frequently caught out. If we get another forward, presumably a youngster on loan from a premiership side, it could be a much more entertaining season.

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runningout added 00:06 - Jul 26 Joe Garner is scoring a few at the mo, but we are still in deep poo if we don't add another forward to the unproven squad
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trevski added 01:57 - Jul 26 Great to see the pre-season going very well and all of the new boys seeming to fit in very well. Great to see Garner is getting goals, although only pre-season he is starting to prove my doubts wrong. I still think we need that quick and proven striker as we seem to do well with a strike partnership of the big guy and the quick guy (think Bent and Kuqi). Means we would have McGoldrick and Garner as the big guys with Sears and the other as the quick guys. Great to see Downes and Nydam playing very well and to have some of the youth guys starting to come through and prove themselves

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therein61 added 06:34 - Jul 26 I find Bart not given any game time a worry
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dirtyboy added 07:16 - Jul 26 Always difficult to take away something tangible from a friendly, but I felt Iorfa looked good in both roles, ungainly in appearance but effective. Garner looks impressive, us fans have a player there that will get us off our seats and showed some real quality, the header was very good. Excited now I've seen him. Rowe has to start, he'll cause any team problems and his movement off the ball is really good. Celina did okay, looked like it was a bit more congested over that side but there were signs of a good player, was working hard which bodes well. McDonnell looked really good, snappy, always available, some excellent passing and that game wouldn't have done him any harm. Downes did okay, comfortable but not really enough time to see what he was all about. McGoldrick is class. I Forget how good he is sometimes! Plenty of positives, especially with players like Huws and Adeyimi still to come in and have an impact.

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warktheline added 07:22 - Jul 26 Always nice to win, regards of occasion and opposition . Clean sheets are a good starting position if you want to be successful . Still extremely worried in relation to forthcoming season!
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Pilgrimblue added 07:29 - Jul 26 Agreed lots of positives esp Garner Celina and Rowe but for me Downes stood out in the little time he had. He never put a foot wrong and moved the ball with assurance.
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rayman_10 added 08:18 - Jul 26 therein61 I seem to remember last pre season towards the end Mick would play Gerken for 90 mins one game and the next game Bart would play the 90. So nothing to worry about... I hope!
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TimmyH added 08:22 - Jul 26 Yes a win is a win BUT we are playing a league two side and have hardly won easily...but as others have said Garner has made a fairly decent start although only friendlies.
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Tessah added 08:35 - Jul 26 Well done lads. Garner appears to be a good buy. If we are able to really get people like Bishop to stay fully fit and get back to form then we will have a good squad provided we get the new striker whom Mick says he is confident of signing.
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Ferguson added 09:29 - Jul 26 With this squad we might just win our first cup tie this season. That'd be a nice change.
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BlueSmith94 added 11:05 - Jul 26 Lets hope Garner can continue this goal scoring form into the new season! Feeling very positive about the players we have, especially the acadamy players making a name for themselves!!
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midastouch added 12:05 - Jul 26 I hope Rowe can cement himself as a first team starter as I love to see non-league players succeed as professionals. One only has to think of Ian Wright or Jamie Vardy. I've always had a feeling he could do the business for us. So much so I wouldn't be surprised to see other teams being linked with him in the not too distant future. I wonder what starting line 11 Mick has in mind for Birmingham. Will there be a few surprises or the usual suspects? If he wants to win back some of the fans surely his best bet would be to be more experimental and adventurous in his line ups this season instead of sticking with the tried and tested, or you could certainly argue after last season the tried and failed!

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Michael11 added 12:07 - Jul 26 I'll get excited if Garner scores 6 in his first 5 LEAGUE games. It's positive but can't read too much into pre-season. I still think we're 2 or 3 players short of being a much better side than last season.
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planetblue_2011 added 12:12 - Jul 26 Good win, just need one more striker in & see what we can do with this squad. We do look pretty promising going forward & forward thinking players. COYB
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Ipswichbusiness added 16:41 - Jul 26 I had my doubts about Garner when he was signed, but he seems to be proving me wrong. Well dome to MM on that one! I still think we need Berra and Murphy replacements.
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therein61 added 17:30 - Jul 26 Hope your right "rayman 10" otherwise it's a battle between Gerks and the premiership class no/8 to be 1st on the team sheet!! god help us.
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blueboy1981 added 20:12 - Jul 26 BlueandTruesince82 ........... obviously !! - and justifiably too. It's just you people who condone everything - including failure. Some of us see things differently - and want success for our Club.
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blueboy1981 added 20:18 - Jul 26 McCarthy will do all he can to shoe horn Gerks into the team - Bart had to play the way he did last year to get any kind of recognition from McCarthy - and that was with reluctance !! Not to mention favourites - but Gerks is a McCarthy 'bloke' - irrespective of ability. You all know it's true.
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