Five-star showing lifts spirits at the U’s
COLCHESTER United head coach John McGreal feels his side’s big win over Forest Green Rovers will give them a “shot in the arm” after they claimed their first victory of the season.
Goals from Kyel Reid and Frankie Kent put the U’s 2-0 up inside 21 minutes at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.
And although Liam Noble quickly pulled a goal back for Rovers, further strikes in the second half from Sammie Szmodics, Kane Vincent-Young and substitute Courtney Senior, on his Colchester debut, rounded off a big win.
McGreal said: “We have a young team and when things go well, they go well.
“It will give them a little shot in the arm, with the way they performed.
“I thought some of the football was out of this world.
“We’ve got a good home record and that’s what we’ve been stressing. We’ve only been beaten twice at home this year in the league.
“We want to keep that connection with the fans and this will have helped that.
“It was a great occasion on a nice warm day and the pitch was lovely and wet, conducive for a good footballing team.”
Forest Green boss Mark Cooper admitted his side’s performance dipped well below the standards they have set under his management.
Cooper said: “The players are very angry, devastated. It sometimes happens and we need to look at it over the weekend – I’ll take responsibility for that.
“We have to do better with that.
“Defensively we have to do better and in attack we must do better.
“The forwards didn’t fire. From 1 to 14 we were really, really poor.
“We had a great chance to make it 2-2, [Christian] Doidge usually scores them.
“It is important we digest the game and see what the faults are and try and remedy them on the training pitch and put it into practice on Tuesday night.” Reid gave Colchester a fourthminute lead, tapping in after Szmodics’ effort had been blocked.
And the U’s doubled their lead in the 21st minute through Kent’s looping far-post header from Reid’s cross.
Noble’s low 20-yard effort flew in off a post to get Forest Green straight back into it.
But Szmodics made it 3-1 just after the hour and Vincent-Young added a fourth with 16 minutes remaining following a fine solo run, before Senior tapped home in stoppage time to round off Colchester’s victory.