Colchester United boss, John McGreal, insisted that his side “made a fist of it,” against the League Two leaders this afternoon.

The U’s distant hopes of gate-crashing the League Two play-offs were all but ended by table-topping Accrington Stanley.

But McGreal was satisfied with his side’s performance, although he rued their inability to make their dominance count during the opening minutes of the second period.

“The first half was a very tight affair,” explained McGreal.

“I thought we started the second half really well, and gained a lot of territory in those first 20 minutes.

“I thought we made a fist of it, but we didn’t make the most of all our pressure and all our territory early in that second half.

“There’s a reason why Accrington Stanley are top of the league. They are a terrific team, and they have managed to hold onto 1-0 leads for most of this season.

“The run that they have been on (15 wins in their last 17 matches) has been amazing, especially at this level,” added McGreal.

The division’s leading scorer, Billy Kee, clinched all three points for Stanley with his 22nd goal of the season, midway through the second half.

However, there was a slice of fortune about the goal, which arrived in the 63rd minute.

Sam Walker managed to parry winger Jordan Clark’s fiercely struck cross-cum-shot, but the rebound ricocheted off the lurking Kee and rolled into an unguarded net.

Accrington boss, John Coleman, said: “Colchester are a good side and they posed us a few problems.

“But I don’t think anyone could begrudge us this win. We created the better chances.

“I thought this was a typical Accrington performance.

“Our aim from day one of this season was to get automatic promotion, and the players have really bought into that,” added Coleman.