COLCHESTER United's match-day mascot, five-year-old David Lisbie, will never forget his big day at Layer Road because he watched his dad Kevin score a quality goal in a 2-2 draw against Charlton.

By Carl Marston

COLCHESTER United's match-day mascot, five-year-old David Lisbie, will never forget his big day at Layer Road because he watched his dad Kevin score a quality goal in a 2-2 draw against Charlton.

Young David had been more accustomed to seeing his dad play in red-and-and-white of Charlton, rather than the blue-and-white of Colchester.

But 28-year-old goal-poacher Lisbie is now very much a U's player, having moved from the Valley to Layer Road over the summer.

His pinpoint header, from Johnnie Jackson's 38th minute corner, was his third goal in as many matches, and all of them have been headers.

Lisbie (senior) said: “It was a big day for my little boy, David. He has spent five years watching me play for Charlton, and it took me 30 minutes to explain to him why I was playing against Charlton today.

“He's watched me from when he was a little baby. He was happy that I scored, and I couldn't help myself from celebrating that goal against my old club.

“It's the best feeling that I've had for several months. I was getting booed by the Charlton fans, so it was great to score.

“I've now scored three goals, all with my head (following goals at Preston and against Burnley).

“There are a lot of ups and downs in football, so it's important to enjoy the good times. I'm getting fitter with every game, and I'm playing more games now than I've ever done for many years.

“Heading is a very important part of my game. Not many people know that!

“Now I want to score two or three goals with my feet!

“It's just a shame that I couldn't score again in the second-half. Conceding a goal just before half-time was a killer, because we were looking good at 2-0 up.

“That felt like we'd conceded two goals at once. It was a big blow.

“I had a couple of good shots in the second-half. I probably hit them too well. If I'd shanked one of them, then maybe it would have gone in rather than the keeper (Nicky Weaver) making a great save.

“It feels like a loss rather than a draw. We should have won this game. We had better chances than Charlton, even after we went down to 10 men. We outplayed Charlton the whole game,” added Lisbie.

U's manager Geraint Williams was unhappy with referee Mike Russell's decision to send off Matthew Connolly following his last-ditch challenge on Chris Iwelumo.

Williams rued: “It was a big decision that turned the game. I'm fed up of talking about refereeing decisions, because I thought my players were magnificent.

“But I spoke to the referee afterwards, and he said that he didn't see anything wrong, and so waved play on.

“Then he saw his assistant raise his flag. Matt (Connolly) has told me that he got a bit of the ball, so all in all it was a frustrating afternoon.

“I feel very disappointed that we didn't get all three points. I thought my players were magnificent in the first half, and we had four good chances to kill off the game in the second half.”