Brown’s boys are on beach already
SWINDON manager Phil Brown apologised to his team’s travelling fans after the men from the County Ground played out a dull stalemate at Colchester.
Entertainment was in short supply at the Weston Homes Community Stadium following a largely uninspiring goalless draw.
Brown said: “I’d like to apologise to our travelling fans because it was such an end-ofseason game, especially in the first half, that I was fairly bored by it myself.
“The clean sheet is a positive but there was no great football, no clear-cut chances and one or two of the players looked as if they were already on the beach.
“It wasn’t a spectacle and it certainly won’t bring the crowds back - that’s for sure.
“We brought Kaiyne Woolery on and he injected a bit of life into the game.
“We were pressing more and we were playing football in the opposition’s half for a change.”
Colchester head coach John McGreal felt his side’s performance merited more than a draw in their final home game of the season.
McGreal said: “We went out at home with a draw but I thought we thoroughly deserved to win. Had it been a boxing match, it would have been over and I’m pleased with how we applied ourselves.
“We’ve been stressing all week not to go out with a whimper in front of our fans.
“We wanted to keep putting a show on for our fans and keep doing things the right way.
“I thought that we created chances – they weren’t so much clearcut opportunities maybe but we got the ball in and around the six-yard box.
“They had a little spell for ten to 15 minutes in the second half but I thought after that, that we dominated the play.”
Swindon left-back Matt Taylor’s deflected freekick sailed straight at keeper Dillon Barnes early on while at the other end, Drey Wright went close and Mikael Mandron hooked a first-time shot wide.
And Colchester came close to scoring again just before half-time when Wright’s fine goalbound effort from the edge of the area was pushed away by Stuart Moore for a corner.
Wright fired just wide for just before the hour and the hosts thought they should have had a penalty with 12 minutes left, with substitute Junior OgediUzokwe going down under Ryan McGivern’s challenge.
But the appeals were rejected and the spoils shared.