COLCHESTER United are making it up to a pensioner who missed out on a £7,750 win after a controversial late goal was scored against the U’s.

Vac Price staked a £4 bet on the outcome of ten matches and correctly predicted the results of nine of them.

Winning the bet depended on the U’s winning last Saturday, but 72-year-old Vac was left empty-handed when Wycombe Wanderers winger Gareth Ainsworth scored with a handball in the 92nd minute, to draw the match.

U’s manager Aidy Boothroyd branded the result as “daylight robbery”, though Mrs Price said she had no hard feelings towards the Wycombe player.

Matt Hudson, U’s spokesman, said the club was trying to get in touch with Mrs Price, from Hailsham, East Sussex to offer her a consolation prize.

He said: “It wasn’t our fault she lost out, but we’d love to invite her to a game and treat her like a star to try to make up for it.

“It’s not as if it was a screamer into the top corner which took the money away from her – and the points away from us. It was a handball!”