Colchester United manager Danny Cowley was delighted with his side after they left Newport County with all three points and edged ever closer to the League Two playoff places, as reported in the Daily Gazette.
Victory in Wales was The U’s seventh win in ten matches and the result leaves them just one point behind seventh-placed Grimsby Town.
Leaving It Late
Cowley’s men left it late to secure all three points against a Newport side who have nothing left to play for except pride this season.
The game looked to be heading for a draw before defender Fiacre Kelleher grabbed an 88th-minute opener before Anthony Scully made sure of the points three minutes into stoppage time.
With Grimsby throwing away a 2-0 lead to only draw at Harrogate, Colchester moves to within a point of the Mariners with four games left to play.
U’s Affected By Taylor Injury
Colchester striker Lyle Taylor had to be replaced after just 12 minutes and Cowley believes this impacted his side after a positive start.
“A brilliant finish, a great win. I’ve had easier Saturdays.”
“We had a brilliant start to the game, really bright, and then obviously lost Lyle, with a serious injury. I think that affects everyone because Lyle is such an important part of our group and has so much personality.”
“To lose him in the way we did wasn’t easy and it changed our tactics.”
“We’re a team that plays 4-2-3-1 and we’ve run out of 10s! No Jack Payne, no Teddy, we know we have ‘Sculls’ but probably not from the beginning.”
Regroup & Reorganise At Half Time
With the changes Colchester were forced to make, Newport had enjoyed their best spell just before the break and Cowley was glad for the chance to rethink his side’s approach after 45 minutes.
“We managed to reorganise us at half-time, got our full-backs coming into the 10s, modern-day football now is all about thinking outside the box.”
“We managed to get connections and a link between the lines and that’s why in the second half we played a lot better.“
A Resilient Group
Overall, the former Lincoln City boss was thrilled with how his players faced and overcame adversity on their way to a hugely important victory.
“I’m just proud of the group, the resilience we showed, it didn’t matter how much disappointment happened in the game, whether with injuries or someone having a heavy touch, making a misplaced pass, we just kept going.”
Writer’s View
Colchester had been on a superb but successive defeats, including to playoff rivals Grimsby, looked to have derailed their charge but, after this victory, the top seven is very much back on.
