COLCHESTER United's penalty appeals fell on deaf ears at Glanford Park, which rankled manager Paul Lambert just as much as his side's dismal second-half display.

Carl Marston

By Carl Marston

COLCHESTER United's penalty appeals fell on deaf ears at Glanford Park, which rankled manager Paul Lambert just as much as his side's dismal second-half display.

Lambert kept his team in the dressing room for half-an-hour after the final whistle, following this demoralising defeat.

But he didn't just criticise his players. He was also quick to express his disappointment with referee Graham Scott for not awarding his team a penalty, early in the second half, when Mark Yeates appeared to be upended by centre-half Krystian Pearce.

Lambert insisted: “I thought we should have had a stone-wall penalty when it was still only 1-0. I've seen that on the video and it was a definite penalty. That might have changed the course of the game.

“In fact, I thought the referee was abysmal all afternoon. His decisions were poor, and that goes for both teams.

“Karl Hawley also hit the bar with a good shot. I knew then that it was not going to be our day.

“I didn't see this being a 3-0 score-line at half-time. The second goal was poor defending from us, and the third goal came from our corner.

“But we've ended a well-beaten team and the players all know how I'm feeling,” said Lambert.

The Scotsman was particularly unhappy with his side's second-half showing, which was out of character following a string of good performances on the road.

He continued: “I thought we were decent in the first half, and could have been in front at half-time.

“But the second-half performance was about as poor as I've seen since I've been at the club. It was disappointing for everyone, the players and the fans who come to watch us.

“We were trying to play offside for the first goal, though I don't know why. The second goal was poor and we got caught on the break for the third, when we gave their lad (Henri Lansbury) too much time and space to hit it.

“And to cap it all, Johnnie Jackson then got injured just a few minutes after coming on as a substitute. He's done his hamstring, which is a blow because he had been looking very lively in training,” added Lambert.

Scunthorpe manager Nigel Adkins was understandably elated with his side's victory, especially as he predicts that the U's will do his team a favour by taking points off some of their play-off rivals during the run-in.

“They are three excellent points. I'm very, very happy,” enthused Adkins.

“The weather made conditions very trying, and we were playing against a very good Colchester side. They will take points off teams in and around us over the coming weeks.

“This is a great victory for us,” added the Iron boss.