COLCHESTER United head coach Matt Bloomfield felt his side went 'toe to toe' with Bristol Rovers before bowing out of the Papa Johns Trophy following a 2-1 defeat.

The U's last-32 clash with their League One opponents looked like it was heading to penalties, before Harvey Saunders netted the visitors' winner in the sixth minute of stoppage-time.

The tie had been finely balanced, after substitute Freddie Sears had cancelled out James Connolly's opener for Rovers, with all of the goals coming in the second half at the JobServe Community Stadium.

Bloomfield told BBC Essex: “I’m really disappointed for the boys.

“I thought Bristol Rovers really dominated the ball in the first half.

“We couldn’t quite get the press right, so we had to stay in the game which I thought the boys did really, really disciplined.

“In the second half they went ahead from a set-piece which we were really disappointed about but we made a couple of changes, brought on some subs and fresh legs and I thought it worked.

“We played around with the formation a little bit as well to give ourselves two up top and I was really, really pleased with the contribution of the boys from the bench.

“Obviously, the lads that started carried on the good work from Saturday (against Doncaster) and we looked like we were the ones in the ascendency.

“We had one cleared off the line and we looked like the ones who would possibly threaten to take the victory, or at least take it to penalties, so we were really disappointed to lose it at the end."

Gazette:

Rovers' winner came deep into stoppage time, after Colchester goalkeeper Kieran O'Hara's attempted punched clearance hit Luke Chambers and fell into the path of Saunders, who duly netted.

“I thought Kieran did loads of good bits, he really, really did," said Bloomfield.

“He made some good saves, came and took crosses, kicked well and there were loads of positives to his game.

“I haven’t had a moment to watch the game back so I don’t want to comment too much until I see it with clarity.

“Of course, we’re disappointed to concede the goal in the way we did.

“We could have stopped the cross a bit better coming in from our right hand side and then there was a bit of a mix-up in the middle of our box and the ball ends up in our net.

“For it to happen that late was really, really disappointing.

“We’ve been working hard on defensive set plays and restarts and we’ll certainly be doing so more this week.

“We tightened up last Saturday (against Doncaster) and got a clean sheet.

“The first goal was a set piece and then another restart from a throw in on the far side where they get out and get the cross in our box.

“We’ll certainly be working hard on the off the ball bits again."

Gazette:

Colchester had their chances throughout the tie, after pushing Joey Barton's Bristol Rovers side all the way before succumbing to defeat.

Bloomfield added: “Samson (Tovide, pictured above) had two headers, in the first half.

“The first one was a free header from a corner and the second from a cross that he put back across the goal and got cleared.

“We’re still creating chances; I’m not going to lie, they did dominate the ball for the majority of the night.

"But we’ve gone toe to toe with a League One team and we’ve got to be really respectful of where they are in their journey and to their manager (Joey Barton), who has been there a lot longer than I have.

“I’ve got massive respect for Joey and the job that he’s done at Bristol Rovers.

“They’re a really big club so fair play to them.

“We feel disappointed that we’ve gone toe-to-toe with them and come away with a defeat."