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TOWN were left to wonder ‘what if?’ as Colchester put up the shutters on an afternoon of frustration at the ’Pharm.

What if Jamie McCombe’s header, Lee Novak’s shot or Joey Gudjonsson’s free-kick had gone in?

What if top scorer Jordan Rhodes hadn’t been forced off with an ankle injury which looks set to keep him out for a month?

And what if former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Williams hadn’t been in such inspired form?

Town needed Ian Bennett to make two late saves from substitute Kayode Odejayi to preserve a point.

But a Colchester win would have been harsh in the extreme after a game Town dominated.

The stats show 15 Town efforts on target to Colchester’s three, eight to three off target and 15 corners to two.

And that reflects the pattern of play as Town pressed forward but just couldn’t find a way past the well-organised Essex side.

This certainly wasn’t Lee Clark’s side at their fluent best, but it was a big improvement on Carlisle.

The manager made three changes from Brunton Park, bringing in Alan Lee, Gary Roberts and Gudjonsson with Tom Clarke, Antony Kay and Novak on the bench.

Kevin Kilbane was switched to left-back as Town, a touch tentative early on, came oh so close in the 21st minute when McCombe met Anthony Pilkington’s free-kick with a firm header, only for Williams to dive low to his left and collect.

McCombe was busy at the opposite end eight minutes later, doing well to dispossess David Mooney as the on-loan Reading frontman seized on a slip by Peter Clarke.

But Town were by far the more dominant, and Clarke headed over from Pilkington’s corner before Rhodes was denied by Williams after being set up by Lee Peltier.

Rhodes had an even better chance in the 37th minute, but in firing Clarke’s flick from another Peltier cross over the bar, he twisted an ankle and was taken back to the changing room on a stretcher, with Novak going on.

The Geordie looked in the mood to seize his opportunity, and came agonisingly close in the 53rd minute from a move he started with a pass to Lee, who in turn fed Roberts.

The winger’s ball in from the left was inviting, and Novak’s low drive left Williams for once floundering – but passed just the wrong side of the right-hand post.

Town kept up the pressure, and Williams kept making saves, first from Peltier, then McCombe, then Lee.

Kilbane headed too high from Pilkington’s 66th-minute corner, Clarke’s 70th-minute header was blocked then, in the 76th minute, Gudjonsson whipped in an angled free-kick from just outside the area which Williams did well to punch over.

By that stage, Colchester boss John Ward had introduced Odejayi, once an FA Cup hero for Barnsley against Chelsea.

The powerful Nigerian headed over from Mooney’s 73rd-minute cross, and as Town pushed forward for the winner, exploited some extra space to twice come close to a winner.

But Bennett, having made saves from Mooney in the 77th minute and David Perkins in the 81st, bravely blocked at Odejayi’s feet in the first minute of time added on then, in the third, stuck out a hand to divert a well-placed header.

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