WHILE the frustration of being denied two valuable points hurts the U's and their fans, there's something reassuring in that pain and it shows just how far Colchester have come this year.

Yes, they would have loved to have posted the full three points rather than just the one they took from a 1-1 draw with Exeter City, but isn't it nice to be talking about being disappointed with 'just a point' when facing a team like the Grecians.

Sometimes it's necessary to look beyond the headline statistic of the result and examine what it means.

This was, after all, an Exeter side who - although under new management now - have spent the last few seasons being perennial play-off fixtures.

They may be on a run of below par results at the present moment, but they are a side with a proper pedigree of success and the way they played at Colchester shows that they'll be up there again at the end of this season.

They have quality running through their line-up.

At times in the past, though, it has been sides like Exeter talking about the frustration of seeing points slip away when they have drawn with the U's, with Colchester being the ones pleased with a point against a high-flying opponent.

But that mentality appears to have changed now.

I don't mean this to indicate that there is any complacency about them, but there is a swagger to the U's this year and I like that.

They seem to know that they have something special and it's refreshing that they are disappointed by 'just a point' - especially against a top-six side like Exeter - even if there is an air of frustration about the two that got away.

The players and staff honestly felt they should have got all three and there could surely have been few at the JobServe Community Stadium who could effectively argue that case.

What they have to do now, though, is channel that disappointment into three points at Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday.

While frustration isn't necessarily always a bad thing, it's not an emotion that will bring you success and while there is a level of reassurance to the hurt of Saturday's result, it's not one that we want to be repeated too often.