COLCHESTER United were denied a first-ever appearance at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium when they were hit by a double blast from Swansea City in the second half of last night's LDV Vans Trophy southern area final, second leg.

By Carl Marston

COLCHESTER United were denied a first-ever appearance at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium when they were hit by a double blast from Swansea City in the second half of last night's LDV Vans Trophy southern area final, second leg.

U's boss Phil Parkinson was far happier with his side's performance, at least in the first-half, but his side are low on confidence after failing to win in eight matches, and mustering just two goals during that lean spell.

The second of those goals came at Layer Road last night, thanks to Neil Danns' 20-yard shot early in the second-half. It was the first goal by a Colchester player in just over 12 hours of football.

But quickfire goals from two Leons - Leon Britton and Leon Knight - within a four-minute spell helped Swansea to a 2-1 win on the night, and a 3-1 aggregate victory. They will now play Carlisle in the final.

“I thought that the first-half was as well as we've played for quite a well,” admitted Parkinson last night. “We worked hard, showed a lot of energy and displayed some quality on the ball. We also created a lot of chances.

“Mark Yeates and Neil Danns gave us that spark, and all that was missing was the goal. That came early in the second-half, with Neil's rather fortuitous strike, although we were due a bit of luck. But then we stopped doing the simple things. Swansea got two quick goals, and we could not get back into the game.

“Naturally, I'm very disappointed that we are not going to the final at the Millennium Stadium. We had won through some very tough games to get this far, against Northampton, MK Dons and Cheltenham. The difference between now and a few weeks ago is that we are no longer taking our chances.

“The confidence has been draining away, but we played better in this match and I'm pleased to get the goal. We can move on from here and try to get back to winning ways in the league,” added Parkinson.

The one bright spot for Colchester was the news that seventh-placed Oldham lost 2-0 at Rotherham in League One last night. That keeps the Latics three points adrift of the U's, having played two games more.