Colchester United kicked off their pre-season schedule on Saturday with their annual friendly versus Maldon & Tiptree, winning 3-0 thanks to goals from Teddy Bishop, Owura Edwards and a late header from Harry Anderson. Plenty of former Colchester players featured for Maldon & Tiptree, including Freddie Sears, Cameron James and club legend Tom Eastman. Here are the key takeaways from this opening pre-season fixture:

Academy Talent on Display

Danny Cowley selected one academy player who’s yet to feature in the first team matchday squad in each half, being Centre-Back and son of former Bayern Munich centre-back Samuel Kuffour, the helpfully named Samuel Kuffour Jr, as well as 17-yearold centre-mid Ronnie Harvey.

Both shone on their debuts, with Harvey in particular standing out, looking incredibly comfortable on and off the ball in the more defensive centre mid position in Danny Cowley’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, due to the absence of new signings Dominic Gape and Ben Perry, clearly not being afraid of getting stuck into duels. Perhaps these two are next off the Colchester young talent conveyer belt?

Notable absences:

Some notable names were off the team sheet over the weekend, with first choice goalkeeper Matt Macey, both central defensive midfielders Dominic Gape and Ben Perry and League Two team of the season’s Jack Payne (albeit he did appear in the sides dugouts) not featuring in the pre-season opener. 

However, the most notable absence of the lot was striker Samson Tovide, who is currently linked with a move away from the club, with clubs from abroad as well as EFL League One. Most recently, Tovide has been heavily linked with a move to League One side Barnsley, as Cowley looks to cash in on his substantial price tag this summer, after turning down multiple offers in the January transfer window. 

Instead, new signings Will Goodwin and Jaden Williams played 45 minutes each in the striker spot, leaving plenty of questions surrounding his future at the club.

Trialist on show:

Just a single player featured who was named as a trialist, being former Reading winger Adrian Akande, who impressed in his short cameo, winning a penalty as well as displaying impressive dribbling abilities, even more beneficial through his pace.

Akande featured 15 times in League One last campaign (21 appearances in all competitions) providing an assist versus Charlton Athletic in August, scoring a single goal versus Harborough Town in the second round of the FA Cup. A majority of these appearances were cameos from the bench, however Reading supporters online were surprised by the club letting him leave following the expiration of his contract. 

According to Reading supporters on twitter, the common consensus amongst them is that he regularly made things happen thanks to his pace but failed to provide any end product, due to his raw character that will develop alongside more gametime. 

There is a very high chance that Akande joining the U’s could be due to the high likelihood Owura Edwards departs this summer for a decent fee, due to his contract expiring next June. 

The new addition’s performances

Two new boys made their debuts following their summer moves to North Essex, being both strikers Will Goodwin and Jaden Williams, playing 45 minutes each in the striker position. 

Goodwin looked energetic with a willingness to press for the ball, also linking up to play a part in the build-up play, using his strength regularly as an advantage to win the ball. On the other hand, the couple of shots he took were quite poor, and taken from rash decisions where the best option wasn’t to take a shot, however with more minutes in his tank following his return from injury, this will undoubtably improve.

Williams in contrast struggled to find his feet in the game, failing to properly make his mark on the game, failing to get on the end of direct crosses from wingers Kyreece Lisbie and Harry Anderson, often leaving the ball ending up at the other wingers’ feet. Additionally, Williams skied his unconvincing penalty, joining the long list of players to have missed a penalty for Colchester in recent years, however with more professional minutes, Williams clearly exhibited the potential for a solid League 2 goal scorer. 

Confusion?

Two players featuring today (Kane Vincent-Young and Frankie Terry), were not listed as trialist, despite not being contracted to the clubs, or at least not announced to the public. Both were offered contracts following the expiration of their contract, but there has been no official announcement confirming these new deals being accepted or turned down. 

Even more surprising for supporters, was Anthony Scully being featured as a regular squad player, not a trialist. Scully left Portsmouth last month as his contract expired but had spent the 2024/25 season on loan at Colchester, failing to feature on a regular basis due to recurring injury struggles, but there has been no formal announcement confirming Scully is rejoining the U’s yet this window.

Scully featured in the first half in a central attacking midfield position, differing from his standard position on the wing, but he wasn’t the only peculiar position swap today, as fellow winger Oscar Thorn appeared at right-back. Thorn unexpectedly played almost flawlessly at full-back, likely covering due to visible gap in right-back depth, with Mandela Egbo turning down a new contract, who featured as first choice throughout the last campaign.