IT’S fair to say Colchester United long-suffering supporters have endured their fair share of disappointments, over recent seasons.

But the manner in which they tepidly relinquished a two-goal advantage in the final minutes to draw 3-3 at ten-man Morecambe was somehow tougher to take than most of the setbacks they have experienced.

It was not necessarily the fact that Colchester threw away a golden opportunity to secure an away victory from what had seemingly been an unassailable position, against a side who had played for more than half of the contest with only ten men.

READ MORE: Colchester fans have their say on Morecambe defeat

Nor likely was it the three goals they shipped against a struggling home side who had before the match failed to hit the net in any of their previous five league games, let alone obtain any points.

What was probably most alarming for most weary U’s supporters as they made the long journey back down the M6 on Saturday night was the mentality fragility in evidence in the closing stages of the game, which ultimately led to their side being denied victory by their depleted opponents.

One of the biggest criticisms to be levelled at Colchester over the past four seasons has been that they lack a winning mentality.

(Image: RICHARD BLAXALL) It was something that Ben Garner memorably alluded to in the aftermath of his penultimate league game in charge of the club, a humiliating 5-0 thrashing at Forest Green Rovers.

As galling as the final result was, Colchester’s performance in the draw at Morecambe was nowhere near as bad as the inept display produced at the New Lawn, that day.

Nevertheless, it bore similar characteristics in part, in that the U’s showed fragility and capitulated meekly when put under pressure by their lowly opponents.

READ MORE: Danny Cowley's verdict on Colchester draw with Morecambe

Thus, Colchester fans who had hoped that seeing their team surrender to the opposition in such a manner under the Cowleys were understandably left shocked and bewildered come the final whistle at the Mazuma Stadium, much like Danny and Nicky and the U’s players.

As Danny said after the final whistle, he is certainly not used to seeing his sides meekly surrender in games; his standards are much, much higher than that.

They say it is the hope that kills you as a football fan.

The hope from U’s supporters is that things will be different this season, with all of the new signings that were made in the summer.

(Image: RICHARD BLAXALL)It must be remembered there has been a great deal of transition within the squad.

As difficult to accept as it may be, it takes time for a winning team to be formulated, especially after years of struggle. It will not happen overnight.

“We’ve changed a lot of players and last year we were young and a lot of players were living it for the first time so you could understand, to a certain extent but we have to take full responsibility for that,” said boss Cowley, in the aftermath of his team’s meek surrender.

Yes, what happened in the final stages of the Morecambe game was unacceptable at both ends of the pitch and have been rightly addressed as such.

It was not enough and must not happen again.

READ MORE: Lyle Taylor's honest assessment of U's draw at Morecambe

As Lyle Taylor says, the U's players must take ownership for what happened.

But there is every chance that this could well be a turning point for this newly-developed squad. That is the hope.

And there were some positives, like Owura Edwards’ encouraging display, Samson Tovide’s well-deserved goal and Lyle Taylor getting off the mark.

Colchester have to learn the lessons of what happened at Morecambe.

But after their late capitulation on the Lancashire coastline, they must also quickly draw a line in the sand and move on, only with a much stronger winning mentality.