Graham Turner thoughts after the 2-2 draw with Colchester United
By Matt Johnson
After recovering from 2-0 down to gain a draw late on against Colchester, Graham Turner even revealed his disappointment that his side weren’t able to snatch all three points after Jon Taylor spurned a late opportunity.
The U’s took an early lead and doubled the advantage midway through the second half, but two Asa Hall headers from two corners just minutes after his introduction from the bench rescued a point for Town.
“I’m feeling disappointment that we didn’t win the game,” said Turner. “Having got back to 2-2 it was a great opportunity for Jon Taylor to have got the winner.
“Overall I thought we showed character in that last 15 minutes or so and the fight back should put a bit of belief into us now. Obviously we’ve been struggling results wise and it didn’t look too good at 2-0 down, but it has shown that there is character in the side to come back like that.”
Hall’s second and third goals of the season sparked a previously limp Town performance into life and Turner praised both his and Taylor’s impact on the match.
“He’s [Hall] capable of getting himself into shooting positions and that’s what you hope for. I was quite surprised when he’s finished up with two headers, but they were good finishes and suddenly at 2-2 the crowd are back behind us and giving us a lift. The players are up for it and we suddenly looked a very confident side.
“Then obviously the Taylor chance late on. But overall he has contributed well to a fight back and we shouldn’t be too hard, but it was a great opportunity for him – they don’t come much easier than that.
“His form has been in and out, but he looked very lively. He showed his pace, showed his ability and got some good crosses in. He probably should have scored but his overall performance was a credit to him.”
Turner was forced to bemoan his luck as Town were denied what looked like a blatant stoppage time penalty for a shirt tug on Jamie Proctor. But after an inept opening 75 minutes, he was happy to take the point and hopes the comeback can breathe confidence for upcoming matches.
“All I saw was the lad pulling his [Proctor’s] shirt and it was so blatant it was unbelievable. As soon as we got in the tunnel Joe Dunne said it should have been a penalty, but we didn’t get too many favours from the officials today.
“What you want is for the fight back to have a good effect on the players. From here on in you expect it to give us a lift. It was almost like a win for us in the end and I’m sure the crowd felt that way, so we’ve got to work from that now.”