John McGreal frustrated as Colchester held by Notts County

Posted Sunday, January 06, 2019 by PA

Colchester boss John McGreal was left frustrated after United failed to find a winner in a 3-3 draw against Notts County.

Harry Pell’s second-half penalty rescued a point for the hosts, who had trailed 3-1 just after the half-hour in the League Two clash.

McGreal said: “We’re frustrated that we didn’t win it.

“We’ve asked the boys for a bit of a reaction after what happened over the festive period and we made a terrific start.

“I thought we were in control and to concede three goals at home is disappointing.

“They scored three goals in 15 minutes and I stood there and I’m thinking ‘what’s going on here?’ because they were really, really poor goals.

“But the boys showed fantastic battling qualities and we reacted really, really well to going 3-1 down.

“We got a bit of good fortune but the boys have earned it and I’m a firm believer that if you work hard, you get your rewards.

“We scored three goals and every time we attacked, I thought we looked a threat.

“We have to balance that with the defending side of it because once or twice, we did look a bit open.”

Colchester took an eighth-minute lead from Sammie Szmodics’ first-time shot from Courtney Senior’s assist.

Jon Stead stabbed in a 16th-minute equaliser following David Vaughan’s corner and two minutes later Dan Jones slammed home from ten yards.

County made it 3-1 after 32 minutes when Kristian Dennis fired in but Colchester responded in first-half stoppage-time after Richard Duffy’s attempted clearance flew in off Mikael Mandron.

Pell then netted from the spot after Duffy had fouled Senior in the area.

County boss Neal Ardley said: “Normally three goals away from home wins you the game but with the position we’re in it doesn’t and we have to rectify that.

“I talked about bouncing back from disappointments and going 1-0 down was poor.

“But for the 20 minutes after that we were excellent and when you’re 3-1 up, to concede in that manner with 20 seconds of the first half to go was unfortunate.

“That gave them all of the momentum and we knew that the second half was going to be tough.

“But we defended well and resiliently and it’s ended up that the referee has cost us the game.

“The referee has bowed to the pressure of the fans and he’s given a really, really soft penalty.

“I always write to the Referees’ Association and ask for their feedback, I’ll be absolutely stunned if the feedback isn’t that he’s cost us the game.”