‘The keeper cleaned me out’ – insists Colchester United’s Freddie Sears

Colchester United front-runner, Freddie Sears, had no shortage of goal attempts in Saturday’s goalless stalemate against Bradford, not least when his 64th minute shot was cleared off the goal-line by defender Stephen Darby.

Sears explained: “You just try and get your shots on target.

“The goalie has saved one, and with another I’ve hit the side-netting. You want to do better, but sometimes that is what happens.

“Their keeper (Jason Pickford) had a good game, especially in the second half. He was hard to beat.

“And the one time I got past him, the defender (Darby) ended up getting the ball off the line.

“The goalie was half-and-half with that one, about whether to come. He ended up coming out, and cleaning me out. I’ve not seen the ball go, but the defender got it off the line.

“I think it would be harsh to say that I could have hit it harder, because I could only get a little bit on the ball, before the keeper cleaned me out.

”I was on the floor, and I suppose you could say we could have had a penalty, but there was a lot going on, and people thought it was over the line.

“But that’s what happens. It didn’t happen for us today, but we go again next week. We have had three or four real good performances, really positive ones, especially at home,” added Sears.

The U’s take on basement dwellers Crewe Alexandra in a bottom two clash at Gresty Road this Saturday.