Smith at the double but Robins held
Two goals from Michael Smith failed to hand Swindon all three points as sloppy defending at the other end allowed Colchester to leave the County Ground with a 2-2 draw.
After a flat opening 25 minutes, Colchester spurned a glorious chance to go ahead. Gavin Massey found Rhys Healey, whose shot beat Swindon goalkeeper Wes Foderingham but not Massimo Luongo, who cleared the ball off the line.
Luongo's last-ditch clearance was the catalyst for the Robins to inject some urgency into their play and a minute later, they were ahead.
Amari'i Bell escaped down the left and tucked a pass into Smith who made no mistake from 10 yards out.
The second half began with the energy the first was lacking. It took only two minutes for Healey to haul Colchester level, turning into space in the penalty area and lashing a shot past Foderingham.
However, a minute later Luongo muscled past Sean Clohessy before Smith converted the cross. But in a topsy-turvy spell after the break, the U's quickly equalised when Massey turned the ball home after Swindon should have cleared a cross.
Colchester keeper Sam Walker saved well from Nathan Byrne as the hosts chased a winner, but it never arrived.
Source: PA
