Thu Aug 10, 2023 8:38 am
U's head coach Garner said: "It's never nice to lose on penalties.
"That's on me - we didn't practise the penalties yesterday (Tuesday) - we were focused on the open play and preparation for the game.”
"At this stage of the season, I thought that that was more important for us to focus on those areas, so there's no blame at all on the players.
"It's 100 per cent on my shoulders and I'm really proud of them.
"To go toe-to-toe here with a Championship side, to come back from 2-0 down, to see the game out with ten men in the last eight or nine minutes, I'm really, really proud.
"We can take a lot of confidence from that, moving forward."
Two goals in four minutes from John Akinde and Joe Taylor had Colchester back into the tie just before half-time, after they had fallen behind to strikes from Rubin Colwill and Kieron Etete.
The U's were then left down to ten men in the final minutes after substitute Samson Tovide was shown a straight red card for a high challenge on Cardiff defender Jamilu Collins, with the striker now facing a three-match ban.
"I thought the mentality we showed after going 2-0 down was great," said Garner.
"We kept patient, we kept playing, we created good opportunities, we scored two really well-worked goals.
"They were both really good poachers' goals from John and Joe and it's great for them to get off the mark, this season.