Colchester United boss, John McGreal, admitted that his side’s lack-lustre first half was “not good enough” following today’s 1-1 home draw against Grimsby Town.

In a classic game of two halves, the U’s rescued a point against lower mid-table Grimsby at a very wet Weston Homes Community Stadium.

The Mariners should have been two or three goals up by the interval, but had to be content with just a 1-0 lead, and the much-improved U’s were a team transformed in the second period.

Sean Murray netted a 47th minute equaliser, but the U’s could not fashion a winner, and so have now gone five games without a victory.

“We were really poor in the first half,” confessed McGreal.

“We rightly got booed off at half-time. Grimsby matched us up and played off us well.

“Ryan (Inniss) was not right, so we took him off at half-time, although we were always going to go 4-3-3 in that second half.

- Sean Murray earns U’s a point

“We were far more dynamic in the second half, and had far more energy about us. Courtney Senior made a big difference for us, coming on as a substitute, and he was very close to starting today.

“At least we gave it a real go in the second half, that’s all you can ask.

“But we should really be scoring more than the one goal,” added McGreal.

Grimsby boss Russell Slade believed that his side should have been awarded a penalty late on, for a foul on goalscorer Charles Vernam in the box.

“If we had been 3-0 up at half-time I don’t think anyone could have complained, not even in Colchester,” said Slade.

“Colchester upped the tempo in the second half, but the biggest decision was us not getting a penalty.

“Charles Vernam was balled over in the box. It was a stone-wall penalty, and it was not a difficult decision for either the assistant or the referee to make.

“We deserved to win today, and the referee has denied a fantastic opportunity to get the winning goal.”