DON'T bank on anyone buying the souvenir video!

This was a hard-fought war of attrition in which Town's tactics proved a necessary evil.

Even Colchester manager Phil Parkinson admitted they hoped to exploit Town's "open approach" as they hunted a first win in nine matches.

Instead, they had the door slammed firmly in their face as Peter Jackson employed Pawel Abbott as a lone frontman, flooded midfield with the return of Tony Carss and demanded a first League clean sheet in over two months from his fired-up back line.

"It's a great compliment how hard the lads worked for me and I thought the application was excellent from the start," said Jackson.

"Nine goals conceded in our last two away trips in the FA Cup and LDV just wasn't good enough and it forced us to change things around.

"Playing one up front and getting Danny Schofield and Chris Brandon (pictured, above) to operate down the sides enabled us to stiffen things up.

"We just had to tighten defensively and I'm very happy with a point, because I stressed to the players before the game the importance of keeping a clean sheet.

"I wanted to see the stupid mistakes cut out, especially from set pieces because Colchester are good at those, and I got the response I wanted from everyone.

"The back three were excellent, we played some good football when we got the chance and hopefully this is a performance and a result we can build on.

"We have to make the Galpharm our fortress, so if we can take points away from home at difficult places like Layer Road and win on our own patch we'll be all right. Wrexham this weekend is a big game for us."

It was far from pretty on Saturday and both sets of fans in Layer Road's biggest League crowd of the season, 3,972, were unhappy with the quality of entertainment.

Town were so hell-bent on repelling Colchester's quick breaks that little was seen of them as an attacking force.

When Jackson's men did move forward, Colchester were equally efficient at getting men behind the ball and serious opportunites were few and far between.

Town did have probably the best chance of the match with 20 minutes left when a lovely piece of skill from Abbott enabled him to slip the attentions of Gavin Johnson in the box.

Abbott tried to lift the ball over keeper Aidan Davison as he sprang from the line, but the ex-Bradford man managed to make a vital block.

Having had only one shot in the first half - a Brandon effort over the bar - Town seemed more at ease with their system in the second with hard-grafting Jon Worthington seeing a shot deflected wide and Abbott's cross, after more neat skill, being just too high for David Mirfin in the box.

A goalline block from substitute Rob Edwards denied Richard Garcia after Paul Rachubka had saved from the dangerous Craig Fagan, and Town's keeper was in determined mood.

He saved well from Fagan and the raiding Johnson early in the game and watched Johnson fire over before, on 49 minutes, diving smartly to his left to keep out a curling free-kick from Greg Halford to ensure that honours finished even.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Nathan Clarke

Just edged the vote from several other contenders because, overall, he was in commanding form and, with space tight, he almost always found a Town man when in possession

Next: How they rated >>>

HOW THEY RATED:

Paul Rachubka Solid saves kept out Johnson, Halford and Fagan and he handled well. Verbal directing of defence was excellent Rating: 8/10

Andy Holdsworth Attacking chances proved limited. One high-class piece of tracking denied Johnson on a first-half break. Tackled ferociously Rating: 7/10

Anthony Lloyd Played a succession of passes to non-existent runs in the first half but stuck at the job before being replaced on 55 Rating: 6/10

Steve Yates Dug in solidly as the home attack proved lively and quick and eventually bottled the threat of big Halford Rating: 7/10

Nathan Clarke Caught the eye with some powerful tackles and headers and his passing was cleaner than anyone else Rating: 8/10

David Mirfin Had a terrific battle with the dangerous Fagan and was strong through the whole game. Key role in the clean sheet Rating: 7/10

Chris Brandon Had Town's only shot of the first half, over the bar, and covered acres of ground. Did a lot of valuable tracking back Rating: 7/10

Jon Worthington Set the benchmark with a crunching early tackle on Watson. Influential in helping Town establish a foothold in hectic midfield Rating: 8/10

Danny Schofield Did well on the ball and caused Colchester a fair share of headaches with his supporting runs for Abbott up front Rating: 7/10

Pawel Abbott Worked hard as the lone frontman and created Town's best chance for himself with a superb piece of skill Rating: 8/10

Tony Carss Returned to bolster the midfield and maybe to prise an opening, but it was tough as Colchester got well behind the ball Rating: 7/10

FOCUS ON THE REF: MIKE RUSSELL from Hertfordshire did a pretty solid job and there were no really contentious decisions in the game. He was probably a little harsh in booking Nathan Clarke for a foul on Gavin Johnson early in the second half, which led to a free-kick from which Greg Halford brought a fine save from Paul Rachubka, but other than that there could be few complaints.

On more than one occasion, the official played sensible advantages and he always seemed to be up with the play. He also let his assistants know who was boss.

Colchester Utd: Davison, Stockley, White, Baldwin, Chilvers, Keith, Watson, Garcia, Johnson (Bowry 79), Fagan, Halford. Subs not used: Williams, Gerken (Gkp), Hunt, Bowditch.