COLCHESTER United centre back Frankie Terry has returned to Maldon & Tiptree on loan from the U’s and he made his second Jammers debut in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at AFC Sudbury, writes JON LONGMAN.

Terry returns to the Jammers after his previous loan spell was curtailed when the U’s needed youngsters to help out during a Covid at the club.

The central defender boosted the U’s first team squad and he was on the bench last Tuesday for the U’s defeat at Sutton United.

He was back at Park Drive in time for the Jammers first defeat of 2022, 1-0 at AFC Sudbury last Saturday.

Jammers manager Wayne Brown was back in charge after illness ruled him out of a place in the dugout to witness the 3-0 win over Hullbridge on New Year’s Day.

Brown gave Terry his second debut and recalled Al-Amin Kazeem to the starting line-up after the youngster sorted out his personal problems.

But the Jammers boss was unhappy with the first-half showing after Sudbury hit a post and he brought on Scott Kemp and Phil Brown-Bampoe in place of Bryan Ifeanyi and Aaron Williams-Bushell after the break.

The tactical change of formation created goal scoring opportunities for Terry and Ngandu.

Then Ngandu fired in an excellent corner but Shomari Barnwell missed the chance to put the Jammers ahead despite being only a couple of yards from the line.

The Jammers paid a high price for Barnwell’s miss when Sudbury bagged the winner 15 minutes from time and needed keeper Tommy Dixon-Hodge to deny the home side a second as the Jammers pressed for an equaliser.

Sudbury’s winner fell to Jake Clowsley who pounced as Ngandu had a lapse in concentration, advanced and fired the ball home from just outside the area.

The Jammers are now four points adrift of the pack of nine clubs chasing the title and one of the four play-off spots.

The Jammers will be hoping to have closed the gap to one point for at least 24 hours as this weekend’s game at Barking has been brought forward by 24 hours to add to growing list of Friday night fixtures with Hashtag visiting on January 21.

The derby match with Heybridge, abandoned because of floodlight failure at Park Drive, has been rearranged for Tuesday, February 8 (7.45pm).

Meanwhile, an independent group of Jammers supporters have launched their own fans group, the Jammers Fans Association.

The association held its first open meeting last night when fans were told that the focus was on fan engagement and experiences, building links within the club and improving contacts with the community.

Jammers fans who would like further information can contact the association at www.thejammersfa.co.uk.