Colchester United let a two-goal lead slip to lose 3-2 at home to Mansfield Town.

A game of two halves

IT has been some time since Colchester United had two more contrasting halves of football than those they experienced against Mansfield Town.

The popular consensus at the midway point at the JobServe Community Stadium was that the U’s excellent first-half performance was the best they have produced all season.

But as soon as Mansfield had reduced the deficit five minutes after the break, their comeback seemed almost an inevitability and John McGreal’s side could do little to prevent the visitors from turning the contest around, in the second half.

That was a real shame, particularly as all of their impressive first-half efforts against one of the best sides in League Two ultimately went to waste.

A fractious finale

THE final stages of Colchester United’s thrilling game with Mansfield Town were somewhat bad tempered.

There was little love lost between the two sets of players come the final whistle, with both U’s boss John McGreal and his Mansfield counterpart David Flitcroft of the opinion that referee Brett Huxtable was partly to blame for the fractious nature of the closing minutes.

“You could feel something happening out there and the referee is there to manage the game,” said Flitcroft, who felt his defender Hayden White’s suspected broken ankle following a challenge by Colchester’s Frank Nouble might have been avoided by better ‘refereeing game management’.

Scant consolation

THE entertainment levels in the last two games at the JobServe Community Stadium have been extremely high.

But the fact that there have been 11 goals scored at the venue in that time will be of little consolation to Colchester United fans.

After fighting back to draw 3-3 with Notts County a fortnight earlier, the U’s were on the wrong end of a comeback themselves albeit against a good side in Mansfield Town.

Colchester have managed just two points from a possible 12 in their last four home matches; they have not won there since beating Macclesfield Town at the stadium, on December 8 and have enjoyed just one victory in their last six matches, on home soil.

Ups and downs

COLCHESTER United now find themselves five points off the League Two automatic promotion places, following their defeat to fellow high-fliers Mansfield Town.

The U’s have also played more games than most of the teams around them and currently have an inferior goal difference.

So are the play-offs a more likely outcome for John McGreal’s side, this season?

Not necessarily. There have already been plenty of ups and downs for the vast majority of sides chasing promotion and that is likely to continue in the coming months, as the season reaches its climax.

Window shopping?

HE may have recently lost his place in Colchester United’s starting line-up but the news that striker Luke Norris is likely to be sidelined for several weeks with an ankle injury is a blow.

The U’s second-leading scorer had been a good option off the bench prior to suffering the injury in training last week and his absence leaves John McGreal somewhat short of attacking back-up, following loanee Aaron Collins’ return to Wolves earlier this month.

That might influence McGreal’s thinking in the transfer window, where the U’s are trying to bring in reinforcements before the deadline on Thursday week.