GOOD ENOUGH SAYS GRAYSON
IT MAY not have been the polished all-round performance he had been looking for but it helped Preston maintain their growing momentum in League One – and boss Simon Grayson knows their win was just what was required.
North End had gone in at halftime level at 2-2 against the U’s at Deepdale.
But Preston rose to the challenge in the second half to eventually see off a spirited Colchester side and record a third successive win.
He said: “We’re in a nice position winning football matches – we could have had a few more points but that’s the nature of football.
“It was an open game and the bigger picture is that we need to do one or two things better, to prevent the opposition from having the opportunities they did.
“We knew we had to do things better in the second half and we did that.
“Even then, we didn’t kill the game off or defend as well as we could have done but we’ve won the game – we got some good goals and we hit the bar a few times.”
Colchester manager Tony Humes was disappointed with his side’s defending, after they dropped into the bottom four.
Humes said: “Whether it’s concentration or belief, it’s something we’ve got to iron out because however many we score, we can’t keep conceding goals like that.
“I’ve just said to the players, it was a case of going back to where we were earlier in the season where we’ve not defended.
“There were individual mistakes in there and we didn’t close the game out defensively.
“We played ever so well with the ball and created a lot of chances. But unfortunately, we haven’t been good enough defensively. I think three out of the four goals that we conceded were avoidable.”
Paul Gallagher missed a giltedged early chance before Rhys Healey gave Colchester a 17th minute lead, scoring from close range after keeper Jamie Jones had denied Alex Gilbey.
But Scott Wiseman easily shook off Sanchez Watt’s challenge before firing past Sam Walker to equalise.
And four minutes later, Alan Browne put Preston ahead from close range after Colchester had failed to deal with a ball into the area.
Jones denied Watt before the impressive Gilbey equalised with a superb long-range effort.
However, Preston went ahead less than two minutes after halftime when Gallagher’s long-range shot eluded Walker and flew into the net.
Garner struck a post before North End extended their lead just before the hour when Chris Humphrey raced onto Gallagher’s defence-splitting pass and evaded Walker before tapping in from close range.
Joe Garner’s header came back off the post and substitute Callum Robinson’s fine effort clattered the woodwork, as Preston searched for more goals.
And although Jones denied Freddie Sears late on, the hosts claimed another home win.