Colchester boss Danny Cowley felt his side were robbed by referee James Linington in the 1-1 draw at Gillingham.
Jack Payne fired the visitors in front but Max Clark levelled from the spot to earn Gareth Ainsworth a point in his first home game in charge of the Gills.
“To come through everything and get beaten by the referee, if I’m being honest, I’m mightily gutted for the group and the supporters,” admitted Cowley.
“It’s so frustrating because their player fouls Manny [Mandela Egbo] first and let’s be honest he couldn’t wait the ref. It’s such a shame because it’s never a penalty. It’s so soft.
“It’s funny, I went past the referee’s office and there were police there. I’m not sure if they were there to arrest him.
“It was a difficult one for us to take. You just want them to be strong and ref what they see. I thought he made the wrong decision.”
Cowley made four changes from the weekend with his squad depleted through injury and things went from bad to worse as scorer Payne and Owura Edwards both went off injured.
“It’s my favourite performance of the season. That was sheer will,” added Cowley.
“I’ve managed a lot of games, maybe close to a thousand, and I don’t remember going into any of them with so much going against us.
“It was Gareth Ainsworth’s first game in charge here and our support was louder than theirs. I thought it was a good night for our football club.
“It was an important goal from Payney [Jack Payne] because it was difficult for us tonight.
“We had an unfamiliar team, we had a lot of boys stepping up and playing and contributing for the first time in a while.
“I told the boys before the game they would really need to step up and show their minerals and I thought they fought so hard.
“They showed so much will. I’ve told them in the dressing room their spirit, their togetherness and their willingness to go until the end that when we’re in that frame of mind people have to kill us to beat us.
“We have such a strong mentality and we’re going to need that going forward.”
It was Gillingham’s fourth straight draw and second successive since Ainsworth replaced John Coleman.
He said: “How has it finished 1-1? I thought the boys were fantastic.
“To put in place early what I’ve asked them to do in terms of structure and building an identity we want to get to, I’m pleased with them.
“Every single one of them was superb. It’s really early days, so I’m not going to say we’ve solved anything at all.
“But I am so optimistic about what this team can achieve at some stage.
“I’ve seen the start of some good moves. If we put the finishing touches on things, I think we could have blown them away.
“But let’s not get carried away. We’re 19th in the table. There’s a reason for that but it’s a great performance.
“I think the fans can see what I’m trying to bring.”
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