It was a familiar story for The U's this afternoon as missed chances cost them dear once more, United could and should have won the game but were caught by a sucker punch by the home side as Scott Forrester scored on half time and then a bizarre own goal from Billy Turley made it 2-0.

United should have been ahead inside four minutes as Sam Deering took advantage of some hesitant defending from Damien Batt but saw his cross smothered away for a corner with James Constable screaming for the ball at the far post. The first ten minutes set the tone for most of the first half, played very much in the Grays half . The home side had only a shanked effort from ex Dagenham winger Sam Sloma to worry Bllly Turley in the opening exchanges as United pressed.

A poor decision to flag for the retreating Constable as the onside Haldane raced clear cost United a chance on 15 minutes, and Haldane was flattened in the area on 22 minutes in one of those 'foul anywhere else on the pitch moments', before a long throw from Matt Day caused chaos and ended with Phil Trainer nodding the ball just over. Chances continued to arrive: Constable fired over on 34 and Quinn thumped a powerful header over thirty seconds later from a Deering corner, and once again United were dominating an away game without killing the game off.

The best chance came on 27 as the excellent Deering sent a thirty yard pass for Haldane to run on to and his low shot was parried by keeper Button,down to his left. United should have been home and hpsed buy hen just before the break the inevitable happened and they were behind. McCollin got past Carruthers and was on his way with Chris Willmott trailing in his wake. It was an uneven race and McCollin reached the by-line and pulled it back for strike partner Forrester to apply a simple finish.

The second half began with two half chances for Constable but Forrester should have made it 2-0 on 55 when he met another low cross, this time from Welsh, but found Turley equal to it with a good save to his left. Another mystifying decision on the hour saw Haldane wrestled over by sub Jon Ashton inside the area but no penalty awarded, before subs Yemi Odubade and Jamie Guy were given their chances to find a breakthrough.

It really should have payed off on 76 minutes as Guy had yet another clear chance. His power and pace allowed him to bustle between three defenders and get a run at goal but the most important touch of all, the final one, was indecisive and allowed Button to dive at his feet and save.

Grays had improved after the break  but Turley denied Cogan with a good save with time running out and picked up the ball just in time as an own goal looked likely after a corner with five minutes to go, but then the keeper had a nightmare, trying to catch a looping ball and only succeding in throwing it behind him into his own net with nobody near.

A poor goal on a poor afternoon.

Att: 892

Report by Chris Williams

Stats by PA Sports

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