Colchester United recorded their third win in seven days and extended their unbeaten run to 11 League Two matches thanks to a Harry Anderson strike at Cheltenham Town.
U’s boss Danny Cowley gave his reaction to the club’s official YouTube channel.
A Nine-Point Week For United
Cowley was delighted with his players for bagging their third win in seven days after tough outings against MK Dons and Chesterfield.
“Another tough week, two away games and the home game in between those two and I just thought the effort and the attitude of the players was incredible.”
The former Lincoln City boss was full of praise for his opponents and how his side dealt with those problems.
“To play against a super aggressive, physical Cheltenham team it’s so difficult to play against and there’s a reason that going into today they’ve only lost one game at home in 16.”
“They’re a really powerful team on a really tight pitch and we knew that we had to earn the right first and foremost and then we had to find out control and our rhythm.”
Cowley was asked if it was somewhat flattering that, during the first half, Cheltenham tried ‘any way they could’ to stop the U’s. A question that contradicts the views of Cheltenham’s boss Michael Flynn.
“I can’t remember a more physical game, I thought the ref allowed a lot and let a lot go in that first half and that made it very hard for our attacking players for sure.”
“We had to try and find out control and our rhythm and every time we put four or five passes together in the first half, because of the man-to-man nature (of Cheltenham’s marking) we were able to create space.”
“I thought we came out second half and found a lovely rhythm and I thought from the beginning of the second half to the goal we were the dominant team.”
We Want To Be Relentless
Cowley was delighted with the impact of his substitutes and praised their attitudes.
“Whether you start a game or finish a game, for us you’re super important as we want to be relentless in the way that we play and we know that we’re going to need the Calvary at some stage in the second half and they certainly turned up.”
“I’m proud of the whole team, we’ve restricted a team that has lost once here in 16 games to very very little.”
Writer’s View
Some tipped Colchester United to mount a playoff challenge at the start of the season but few would have believed it possible 11 games ago.
Of course, there’s still a long way to go until that is achieved but the signs are there for more positive times ahead for Colchester United fans.
Cowley is an expert at getting fans behind the team and once that momentum begins to build it is hard to stop.
