THE dream of the play-offs finally came to an end on Saturday though a draw, on top of five consecutive wins, cannot be considered a disaster.

In truth, Town played below par and were fortunate to come so close to an unlikely victory.

The fact that we didn't secure a single corner is some indication of how hard we found the game.

Colchester, as befitted their excellent away record, were a tidy, well-organised side who would have felt hard done to had they not gone away with at least a point.

Huddersfield missed the driving presence of Jon Worthington in midfield and, with passes going astray too often for comfort, were always chasing the game.

Paul Rachubka, on his day a brilliant shot stopper, had a poor match and his rush of blood was responsible for Colchester's second.

The highlight of the game was Pawel Abbott's superb equalising free-kick. He took advantage of the new ruling that the attacking side have the choice of the opposing wall going back 10 yards or taking a quick free-kick.

With great intelligence, Abbott seized his opportunity and calmly slotted the ball passed the unready United goalkeeper.

Though this was a disappointing performance, matters were not helped by both Tom and Nathan Clarke going off injured; an eventuality that could not have been expected.

Andy Booth slotted into the centre-back role like a man born to it, to the appreciation of the crowd who greeted his every clearance with cheers!

But it must be said that the failure to have a defender on the bench was inexplicable and may, ultimately, have proved costly.

Nonetheless, it should be remembered that Peter Jackson has a young side which he is building for the future and despite not playing well, they never stopped working.