Gaffer left ‘puzzled’ with showing in U’s draw
Town manager Graham Turner was left frustrated after Colchester walked away from the Greenhous Meadow with a 1-1 draw despite his side controlling the encounter for large periods.
Cristian Lopez scored his first goal in English football to put Town ahead after just three minutes in a frenetic first-half in which Town dominated up until Marcus Bean’s leveller just before the break.
“I’m puzzled,” said Turner
“I don’t know how we can play so well in periods and then don’t look as though we can pass the ball.
“I thought in the first half, the first 44 minutes, we played well and had a number of good situations that we should’ve done better with. Perhaps in a period like that you have to kill the opposition off and then we’ve conceded such a bad goal right on half-time and we never recovered.
“We got very anxious in the second half and the longer the game went on, you could see the anxiety sneaking in.”
Spaniard Lopez, on loan from Huddersfield, headed home a neat cross from Adam Reach and Turner was frustrated that his team failed to create further chances from out wide.
“It was one way traffic and we got ourselves in good positions. The disappointment for me was that we didn’t get more balls wide. We scored from a cross from a good position and we have the ability to work it wide instead of going through the middle.
“We should’ve done better in that opening period and perhaps could’ve killed the game off.
He’s worked hard [Lopez] and he’s done ok. He began to tire towards the end, but in the first half he was part of the build up play for a lot of out moves and he did well. I’m obviously pleased that he’s got the goal and it should do his confidence good.”
Town have now drawn seven games this season and GT is keen to remind everyone of the quality of the league and that nothing can be taken for granted.
“It’s an unforgiving league, it’s a tough league. Colchester are no mugs with the sort of players that they’ve got in there.
“I feel like on the evidence of the first-half that we should’ve taken all three points, but you can take nothing for granted in this league and if you don’t perform to the level, you miss out on points – and that’s what’s happened tonight.”
Watch the full interview with GT on SHREWS PLAYER