Danny Cowley was pleased with his Colchester side despite them missing a golden opportunity following a 0-0 draw with fellow play-off hopefuls Crewe.
The spoils were shared in front of the biggest JobServe Community Stadium crowd of the season, despite Alex having played for more than half the game with 10 men after Owen Lunt was shown a straight red card for kicking out at Colchester skipper Tom Flanagan on the halfway line.
Colchester squandered a great chance to claim a vital victory in the 87th minute when Arthur Read’s penalty was saved by goalkeeper Filip Marschall.
The point took Colchester back into the play-off places and U’s boss Cowley said: “We were relentless.
“First half we didn’t play with the ball speed that we probably would have liked but we had the whole game in the second half and I’ve never seen one of my teams as dominant as we were today.
“We just couldn’t find the goal.
“We had the penalty that we missed and it was unfortunately the story today.
“Good on Arthur for stepping up and taking it under all of that pressure – for us, it’s always win together, lose together and on this occasion, draw together and it just wasn’t to be.
“If we are going to be critical of ourselves, we probably lacked a bit of quality but second half wow, did we play with some character and personality and the stadium was brilliant.
“It was so fantastic to see so many faces and so many new people that are finding a place for Colchester United in their heart.”
Crewe boss Lee Bell was pleased with the character his team showed in adversity.
Bell said: “I think we got a terrific response from them – the boys dug in and showed real character.
“We spoke about intensity and after things settled down, the players grew in confidence in terms of what we wanted and controlled the half.
“The game then changes on a decision which I can’t quite understand.
“But then didn’t they show character and what they’re about – you just can’t question this group.
“We had to overcome a lot but it wasn’t from our doing; it comes from people making ridiculous decisions on the pitch.
“I don’t know where Jamie (Knight-Lebel) is meant to put his arm (for the penalty) – sometimes they say it looks worse in slow-mo but it looks worse for the officials because he’s fallen down and put his hand there and the ball has hit his hand.
“Luckily enough, Fil was brave enough to stay in the position and made a save.”
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