Fox in the box Porter delights coach McGreal
JOHN McGreal was delighted with the character of his Colchester United players after they recorded an impressive victory at Stevenage.
The U’s extended their unbeaten run to six matches and have now taken 16 points from a possible 18, to move to within two points of the play-off places.
Colchester head coach McGreal said: “For them to come back to 2-2 and for us to step on again was terrific and it was great character from the boys.
“I have to give the boys tons of credit – the 3-5-2 that we’ve been going with of late worked to a certain extent in the first half.
“Chris Porter has been terrific again – you know what you’re going to get from him and at the moment, he’s a bit of a fox in the box that we didn’t have, in that winless run.”
Colchester took a 15th-minute lead through Brennan Dickenson, who headed in Owen Garvan’s corner at the near post.
And Kurtis Guthrie netted from the penalty spot four minutes later after being brought down in the area by Stevenage keeper Jamie Jones.
Stevenage halved the deficit six minutes before the break through Ben Kennedy, who headed home powerfully from Steve Schumacher’s free-kick.
And the hosts levelled seven minutes after the break when Matt Godden capitalised on George Elokobi’s attempted clearance to fire home.
But Chris Porter grabbed Colchester’s winner with nine minutes remaining, steering home Richard Brindley’s effort from close range.
And substitute Tarique Fosu wrapped up Colchester’s impressive win in stoppagetime when he lashed home Porter’s pass.
Stevenage boss Darren Sarll said: “I hold my hands up and apologise to the supporters who have spent their money for the first 35 minutes of the first half, because it was rubbish.
“Aside from the last ten minutes of the first half and the first 15, maybe 20 minutes of the second half, it’s been nowhere near good enough.
“The horrible thing is that we’ve played very well at home and lost, and I have been able to stand and defend the players and say there’s a progression there in the performance.
“But when you play so poorly at home and lose, there’s no defence for that.
“It’s a humbling one. There needs to be a consequence for that type of performance.”