Colchester United 1 Gillingham 2

Colchester United boss Tony Humes insisted that his team did “more than enough” to have beaten Gillingham this afternoon, following a disappointing 2-1 home defeat.

The U’s squandered a great chance to scramble out of the relegation zone, after being made to pay for some poor finishing, and also some bad luck in front of goal – they had two goals disallowed for offside.

A win would have seen Humes’ men climb out of the bottom four, but they failed to build on last Saturday’s 1-0 win at Yeovil.

The Gills broke the deadlock, against the run of play, thanks to left wing-back Joe Martin’s clinical finish in the 25th minute.

Cody McDonald advanced down the right wing and whipped over a cross into the danger zone. The back-tracking Kaspars Gorkss could only head into the path of Martin, who buried a low volley with terrific accuracy into the bottom corner of the net. Sam Walker had no chance.

Another defensive lapse enabled the Kent visitors to double their lead just 10 minutes later. Again front-runner McDonald was the provider, from the right wing, with his low cross swept home at the near post by the alert Bradley Dack.

The U’s gave themselves hope, just six minutes into the second half, when Sean Clohessy’s low cross was diverted home by substitute Sammie Szmodics, although defender Max Ehmer may have got the final touch.

However, the U’s could not fashion an equaliser during the last 40 minutes. Freddie Sears had one effort ruled out for offside, and was also denied by keeper Stuart Nelson near the end, and Szmodics had a goal ruled out for offside in stoppage time.

Humes said: “We did more than enough to win the game.

“We created lots of chances and played well. We were undone by two goals, and otherwise I can’t remember Sam (Walker) having to make a save.

“We had to chase the game after conceding those goals. The lads are understandably disappointed, because for all our good play we have got no reward.

“We had two goals ruled out for offside, but the first one (Freddie Sears) was not offside. We have seen it again, and he was clearly not in an offside position.

“We just didn’t have that slice of quality, of that slice of luck, today,” added Humes.

Squads

COLCHESTER: Walker, Clohessy (sub Watt, 87), Eastman, Gorkss, Gordon, Eastmond (sub Szmodics, 46), Fox, Moncur, Hewitt (sub Healey, 81), Sears, Massey. Unused subs: Lewington, Bonne, Lapslie Kpekawa.

GILLINGHAM: Nelson, Egan, Ehmer, Lennon, A Morris (sub Dickenson,75), Pritchard, Doughty, Dack (sub Linganzi, 46), Martin, McDonald, Norris (sub Kedwell, 67). Unused subs: G Morris, Legge, Hessenthaler, McGlashan.

Referee: Trevor Kettle (Leics)

Attendance: 4,544