George Thomson 'takes responsibility' for Harrogate Town's defeat at Colchester United

In a brutally honest post-match assessment, the 28-year-old midfielder insisted that Saturday’s contest would likely have ended very differently had he converted a couple of clear goal-scoring opportunities.

Town dominated for long periods in Essex and engineered enough openings in the first half to have been out of sight by the interval.

It did however take them until the 61st minute to make a breakthrough, though by this point they were already 2-0 down following what boss Simon Weaver described as “five minutes of madness” at the start of the second period.

And, while not alone in failing to take his chances, Thomson admitted that he was disappointed with his contribution in front of goal.

“I’m guilty of it as much as anybody else is, of missing chances, gilt-edged chances," he told the Harrogate Advertiser.

“I’ve had two chances. One, I’ve completely sliced first half and then another one that’s just gone under my feet.

“If I score that, the first clear-cut chance we had, it’s a different afternoon, so I take that responsibility. I won’t shy away from it, I’ve got to score, make the keeper work as a minimum. If I do score, it’s a different afternoon.

“It’s very frustrating on a personal note to miss those chances and then we’ve had plenty of other ones. Everyone can see we’ve dominated that game, but in the final third, the margins are fine and we’ve missed out today.”