Calamity Cornell

Photo: Alan Howarth

FLYING START . . . in-form striker Rhys Murphy provides the finishing touch as Athletic give their beleaguered fans something to cheer.

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Athletic 1, Colchester1

IF this season was already turning into a nightmare, someone has just pressed the snooze button.

For Athletic, there appears no end in sight to the slow, recurring horror. Thanks to a goal that was credited to arch-villain Chris Porter in the 81st minute, Athletic failed to beat a Colchester side entering this fixture on a run of nine straight league defeats.

It was a pretty good time to face the visitors, but this season it always seems a good time to rub up against Athletic, a side so prone to self-destruction.

Rhys Murphy's second goal in two games since returning from Crawley could have been increased by Jake Cassidy's first in an Athletic shirt but for a super save from Elliott Parish.

But what possessed Cameron Dummigan to head a ball behind that surely belonged to goalkeeper David Cornell?. The young full-back was presumably not given a shout to leave the ball.

There was a sense of inevitability about the goal that followed. Not that it can have stopped many among the crowd from peering through their fingers as Cornell let slip a corner from Owen Garvan, presenting Porter with a tap-in. In a season of rotten goals conceded, this was the worst.

Darren Ambrose almost made it 2-1 to Colchester after that, which would have been adding insult to considerable injury.

Athletic have two games in hand on rivals at the bottom of Sky Bet League One, but also five points to make up to get to the relative safety of 20th place. Manager David Dunn knows he has a heck of a job on this month to turn things around. The club's season ticket holders have now spent a total of 11 games since August watching their side fail to claim three points.

Dunn said again in his post-match conference that he is a winner. The man who played for such a long time at the top level is clearly missing similar desire and character within his bloated squad and must now find it somewhere else - and on a wafer-thin budget.

Captain Liam Kelly certainly possesses the will to win, but his possible departure to Wigan would leave a major hole in the side. The only saving grace would be that some of the money could keep Richie Wellens in Oldham.

With Brian Wilson a close second, the on-loan Doncaster man was his side's best player on an afternoon when the height of tension on the field made the game almost unwatchable at times.

Were Athletic wholly poor? No. The opening goal was a real beauty. Mike Jones feinted to shape in a cross from a free-kick on the right, instead played a square pass to Danny Philliskirk, and he fed Murphy a perfect first-time ball to slot home, Murphy's 12th in 19 games and the first time Athletic had scored first in any game since October.

This created a platform. Athletic looked sharp moving forward in the first half, as Colchester resorted to blasting long balls forward for Porter and Marvin Sordell to chase down. There were jittery moments for both sides, but Athletic appeared the more likely to score next. Cassidy saw a neat Murphy flick skip off his heel as he spun in on goal and Philliskirk almost sent in Murphy with a pass weighted slightly too heavily.

At the other end, the visitors pushed up against a deep back line – a visual illustration of a lack of confidence – and hit pot-shots.

Athletic almost had the comfort of a second goal after 52 minutes. Cassidy attacked a Jones free-kick by getting across his marker and issuing a clean header Parish acrobatically tipped over. From the resulting corner, Wilson forced another fingertip save after rising above his far-post marker.

A second goal at that stage would have sent Colchester packing.

Garvan made an impact with set-pieces at the other end. Centre back Tom Eastman fluffed his header from a telling cross just after the hour and the Us fed on an increasing nervousness.

Sordell held off Timothee Dieng before blasting wildly over in the 72nd minute and nine minutes later, Dummigan headed out of Cornell's hands when Garvan's shot deflected invitingly towards the goalkeeper's grasp.

Then came the gasps and later, on the final whistle, the jeers. It could have been worse, had Ambrose's effort at 1-1 been directed a few inches lower.

But it was certainly bad enough.