'Massive blow' for U's

Barnet 2 Colchester 1CRESTFALLEN Colchester United boss Geraint Williams described last night's FA Cup defeat at Barnet as “a massive blow.”The U's were in the ascendancy at the break, thanks to Jamie Cureton's 14th goal of the season, but they were blown away by second-half strikes from Ismail Yakubu and Jason Puncheon.

By Carl Marston

Barnet 2 Colchester 1

CRESTFALLEN Colchester United boss Geraint Williams described last night's FA Cup defeat at Barnet as “a massive blow.”

The U's were in the ascendancy at the break, thanks to Jamie Cureton's 14th goal of the season, but they were blown away by second-half strikes from Ismail Yakubu and Jason Puncheon.

“We simply didn't come out for the second-half. We are all desperately disappointed,” insisted Williams following the third-round tie in Hertfordshire.

“There may have been two divisions between the two clubs, but that counts for nothing if you don't roll up your sleeves and compete. We were very poor in the second-half.

“We've done well in this competition over the last three years, and had some great nights, but this was not one of them. We were reasonable in the first-half, but we couldn't get out of our half in the second. We should have worked harder.

“We can't make up for this defeat, because the FA Cup is gone, but we need a reaction against Leicester on Saturday,” added Williams.

The Bees are through to the fourth round of the Cup for the first time in their history.

The spotlight was on U's right-back Greg Halford, who was watched by a host of Premiership scouts, as well as Wigan manager Paul Jewell. Williams said: “We don't know what will happen with Greg (Halford) for the rest of the January. “