U's held to a goal-less draw by lowly Dale (From Gazette)

U's held to a goal-less draw by lowly Dale

4:51pm Saturday 25th February 2012 in Sport By Jonathan Waldron

Colchester United were held to an uninspiring goal-less draw by struggling Rochdale this afternoon.

The U's edged a game of few chances but there was little to choose between the two sides, in an even contest at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.

Colchester enjoyed the better of the attacking play, in an even first half.

Freddie Sears ran at the Dale defence before shooting over the bar and Steven Gillespie warmed the gloves of keeper Peter Kurucz, before Ian Henderson curled a shot over.

The teams went in goal-less at the break but Rochdale almost broke the deadlock five minutes after half-time through Michael Symes, whose close-range effort was brilliantly saved by U's keeper Ben Williams.

Sears fired over from a tight angle for the U's with 13 minutes to go.

But Symes sliced a shot wide for Dale after being sent through by Gary Jones and Williams palmed over Jason Kennedy's header from a corner in stoppage-time, as Colchester had to settle for a solitary point.

See Monday's Gazette for a full match report, pictures and reaction to Colchester United's game with Rochdale.