Colchester United manager John Ward admitted his side were not at their best in drawing 1-1 with Hartlepool United this afternoon.

The U's trailed for much of the game to Antony Sweeney's early header, before Freddie Sears rescued a point for them with an 81st-minute penalty.

Ward said: “We can play a lot better than that.

“It’s another game unbeaten but it’s a draw at home, which is frustrating.

“It was a sloppy goal for us to concede – it’s a throw-in in the bottom corner and we’ve not marked well.

“We got punished and we found it hard to lift the game up after that.

“We lifted the tempo of the game in the second half.

“But the goal was a while coming and we still didn’t threaten enough, in the front end of the pitch."

Ward had words of praise for goalscorer Sears, who struck his first goal for more than a year in hitting home the U's equaliser from the spot.

“Freddie was bright and I’m very pleased he scored the goal.

“He stepped up for the penalty with confidence which is nice and it was good for him.

“He needed a goal but his whole game was quite lively.

“If we could have matched a bit of liveliness with players around him, we’d have probably given ourselves a chance to win it."

See Monday's Gazette for a full match report, pictures and more reaction to Colchester United's game with Hartlepool United.