Colchester United fan Si Collinson gives his U's views

The last time we had travelled to Priestfield Stadium was Boxing Day 2022; we were struggling and had not won away all season but a late Christmas present arrived and we embarked on an decent unbeaten run on the road that helped our EFL survival, last season.

This year was slightly different as it is early in the campaign, but we headed to Priestfield in search of our first points and this time, Gillingham were not fellow strugglers.

Instead, Gills sat top of the table not having conceded a single goal.

The task looked a big one and most of us would have taken a point before the game.

The first half was a mixed bag; we had our chances and so did they and as it played out, it did have the hallmarks of a game where we would play OK but luck would at some point go against us.

This feeling was compounded when just before half-time, Nico Lawrence, while defending strongly, disappeared into the stand in the corner and straight away there were urgent calls for the medical team and a substitution.

While the welcome return of Fiacre Kelleher was to produce a positive, at that moment it was the loss of Lawrence that was the worry.

He was eventually carried off on a stretcher during the break with what looked like a nasty ankle injury.

Let's wish him well and fingers crossed for a speedy recovery. He has become a key player in his short time here and will be missed.

Then as if things weren’t bad enough for the travelling fans, it started to rain and as Gillingham’s away end – the most permanent, temporary stand in football - has no roof, it felt like we were in for a long second half.

However what transpired was anything but dull.

Kelleher marked his return to the pitch after injury delayed the start to his season with a strong strike on 64 minutes, after a bit of pinball in the hosts' penalty area.

The away end celebrated wildly, and the home fans were noticeably deflated.

Credit has to go to Ben Garner who introduced Bradley Ihionvien and Alex Newby into the fray while the game was 0-0; this change brought a new dynamic to the side and the positivity seemed to lift everyone.

It then became 2-0 when Samson Tovide marked his return from the naughty step after his red against Cardiff with a goal.

A nice touch to bring down a Will Greenidge header was followed up by a quality second touch to send the ball into the net, doubling our lead and setting off another set of crazy celebrations.

Everyone would have returned to North Essex very happy at this stage, but there was time for the icing on the cake.

Again, Greenidge was the provider with a well timed and weighted pass into the path of young Bradley Ihionvien, who then kept his nerve to carry the ball forward, then calmly lob the Gills keeper and ex-U's loan player Jake Turner to get his first senior goal and our third, to wrap up a solid afternoon.

The fact he had so much time to over think it and yet was still able to pull off what he did was impressive, even more so given his age and it being his first goal.

What really made the goal even more special was that his dad was in the away end and was cheering every touch, after Brad came on.

It felt he was kicking every ball with him, so to see his emotion when the ball hit the net was something amazing - he celebrated with the fans and everyone was on cloud nine.

Moments like this make it all worthwhile and really bring everyone together striving to the same end.

Tovide and Ihionvien are going to be a pairing to watch if they keep grounded and developing at such a rate.

So once again Gillingham proved to be a happy ground for us and all that remains to be seen is if we can now build on this and really kick on.

We have shown everyone we can do it, after a slow start.

Now we need to ensure this is the baseline level and strive to improve in every game to come.

Walsall has in recent years been a tough place for us to visit, but let's hope given what we have just witnessed that this year is different and another three points are waiting for us on the road this coming Saturday. Up the U’s.