Grimsby boss Ian Holloway said football can be a “horrible, vile, disgusting game” after seeing his side lose 2-1 at Colchester in a match where he felt they contributed to their own downfall.

The U’s took an eighth-minute lead through Tommy Smith, who converted Courtney Senior’s corner from close range.

And although Luke Hendrie cleverly flicked in a 23rd-minute equaliser from Danny Rose’s corner, Callum Harriott won it for the home side in the 56th minute, drilling a low shot inside the near post.

Grimsby were unfortunate not to claim a point, though, with Colchester keeper Dean Gerken denying George Williams, while Owen Windsor had an effort blocked on the line and Luke Waterfall squandered a gilt-edged chance.

A far from impressed Holloway said: “Football is a horrible, vile, disgusting game sometimes when you don’t get what you deserve like we haven’t for some terrible mistakes and not being how I would be if I was out there.

“For a corner, I would be ready to attack it first – not watch it go past me.

“We went 1-0 down to another absolutely pathetic goal.

“Did I expect that? No, I didn’t. Did we have a good comeback? Yes, we did.

“How we’ve ended up losing the game, I really don’t know.

“Who do you blame? The lads who let another goal in when they should have tackled him (Harriott) outside the box when he bobbled it in and struck it through one of our players’ legs.

“We should have dealt with it and stopped him getting in the box.

“After that, it was like shooting practice and none of our lads picked a spot to aim at – they just lashed it.”

Colchester boss Steve Ball, meanwhile, dedicated his side’s win to the returning fans.

Almost 1,000 U’s supporters were in attendance at the JobServe Community Stadium for the first time in more than nine months to see them claim victory and move within a point of the play-off places.

Ball said: “It was fantastic to have the fans back.

“The players loved it and they were buzzing during the warm-up.

“There was a different vibe to it with them here and you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

“It was brilliant to have them back and it sounded like there were 4,000 of them at times.

“I thought we started the game well and dominated early on and had a couple of really good chances.

“We scored a good goal from a set-piece which we had worked on but then conceded a sloppy goal which changed things but it was a positive result.

“It was a really poor goal to give away and we’ll have a look at it and try and be better.

“Callum (Harriott) is a match-winner and I think he’s got five goals now this season.

“When he gets in the box like that, people don’t want to touch him because he’s got such quick feet.”