Colchester 0, City 0

IT SAYS a lot about the game when the highlights are a tackle and a clearance off the line – but the headlines are not always about the goal scorers.

It may have been an afternoon that will not live long in the memory of the 490 City fans who made it to this Essex outpost. A couple of moments of defensive derring-do, though, deserve to be remembered.

The first came just after the hour as Colchester began to turn the screw.

Gavin Massey played Freddie Sears through on goal and the patrons of the snappily-named Weston Homes Community Stadium were on their feet.

Jordan Pickford tried frantically to close down the Colchester striker but the finish beneath the keeper was assured. The U's had the lead – or did they?

While the rest of the place acclaimed the goal, Stephen Darby refused to accept City's fate as he swooped in from nowhere with a sliding block to pull his team back from the precipice.

For Phil Parkinson, admiring his skipper's efforts from the sidelines, it was a flashback to what had attracted him to Darby in the first place.

The City boss said: "I've seen him do that time and time again. I remember when I was watching him play that summer we signed him. I saw something similar on a DVD clip, paused it and told my young lad 'come and watch this'.

"Darbs never gives up on a lost cause. That's what he's all about and why he is such a great captain for us.

"I said it to the back four before the game. When they play with commitment and do their jobs like that, it spreads through the team and sets the tone."

An example of that came later in the half from Gary Liddle.

Outjumped by Alex Gilbey in the centre circle, Colchester suddenly had numbers forward as they attacked with intent. But Liddle, like Darby before him, refused to be beaten.

George Moncur, Colchester's brightest performer, advanced towards the City penalty area before feeding Sanchez Watt, who was unmarked to his left.

The former Leeds winger's eyes must have lit up as he shaped to shoot but suddenly there was Liddle again with a precisely-timed intervention to whip the ball clean away.

On a yellow card from early on for a foul from behind on Craig Eastmond, anything slightly off would have resulted in a penalty and dismissal – the last thing City could afford in their current 'bare bones' state.

But the tackle was absolutely spot on – the modest midfielder later playing down his efforts by admitting that he should have won the header in the first place.

Three minutes later, Liddle was back-tracking the same way to rob Sears in similar fashion.

It is that kind of selfless spirit and team ethic that Parkinson loves from his players – and a major reason why City remain unbeaten on their travels with only two goals conceded from five games.

On the face of it, Colchester away is hardly the most daunting fixture on the calendar.

Without a win on home soil so far, only Crewe are keeping them off the foot of the table. Is it worth crowing about sharing the spoils?

But Colchester are an improving team as they ride the new manager wave.

This was their third clean sheet in the four games since Tony Humes succeeded Parkinson's buddy Joe Dunne at the start of the month. The only aberration was the mad final eight minutes against Sheffield United when they capitulated in Humes' home debut.

They are a team leaning heavily on youth – "young, keen and enthusiastic" as Peter Jackson used to say – growing up with their new boss from his previous role as academy manager.

It is a policy the club hope will bear fruit in the long term. But inevitably there will be teething troubles as the team learn their trade.

For City, the immediate problems are more of a personnel nature, or rather a lack of them. No wonder Parkinson looked fairly content at leaving his old club with another point in the bag.

Nobody can argue about four points from the week's two away games – even if most would have expected the results the other way round.

In truth, City never really looked like backing up the MK Dons triumph and claiming a fourth away win on the trot for the first time since 1985.

Billy Clarke and Aaron Mclean rarely had the opportunity to build on their goals in midweek. They tried to make the runs but the visitors struggled to play the ball in behind Colchester.

Without the aerial presence of James Hanson, there was no option of the long ball. So it needed a better quality of through pass to set up the smaller front two.

But most of City's attacking play took place in front of the home back four and goalkeeper Sam Walker was not unduly pressured at any point.

Mclean probably had the best chance from a corner but his downward header did not have the power to cause any home alarm.

At the other end, Pickford confidently banked his third clean sheet – all of them on the road.

The pick of his afternoon was a superb tip-over from Moncur. He later beat away a Sears effort at the near post and dealt with pretty much everything thrown his way.

Two down, one to go – City now round off their week-long road trip with a return to Milton Keynes in the Capital One Cup.

The Dons warmed up for that by spanking half a dozen past Crewe; then again, they'd scored five last weekend before City kept them in check.

It's going to be another tough ask, even if Parkinson succeeds in recruiting a further body to fill the void left by Hanson's torn thigh.

But Saturday demonstrated that this lot are not prepared to write anything off.

Attendance: 3,524