BRANTHAM Athletic manager Paul Abrahams believes his side emerged with plenty of credit from their eye-catching pre-season friendly against Colchester United.

Joe Dunne’s League One team visited the Thurlow Nunn League premier division side on Saturday afternoon.

And watched by a bumper crowd, Abrahams – a former U’s hero – was full of praise for the way his young side battled against professional opposition, in their 4-1 defeat.

He said: “From a club perspective, it was an excellent day and an excellent event for us.

“It was great to see the whole community come out and enjoy themselves.

“I hope it puts a few numbers on the gate and people come back and see us.

“It’s a community club and we want people to come and enjoy it here.

“It was very positive and from a football point of view, it was a very tough exercise for us.

“Colchester are of a standard that a lot of them wouldn’t have faced before.

“But I thought we held our own very well."