PRING TEES UP BIG WIN FOR EXILES
NEWPORT County manager Mike Flynn is not allowing his side to dream of promotion despite getting back into League Two’s automatic places.
Jamille Matt broke the deadlock with his 11th goal of the season after 54 minutes and it got even better for the hosts 13 minutes later when Tyreeq Bakinson slid a ball behind the defence to allow fellow Bristol City loanee Cameron Pring to slot home his first goal in the Football League.
Their second victory in eight league matches sees them leapfrog the U’s into third, but Flynn is not getting carried away.
“There has been a bit of doom and gloom lately,” he said. “Just imagine if we were having a bad season.
“We’re third and it’s the middle of November – I’ll never get carried away, but it’s a good start.
“I thought Padraig Amond put in one of the best League Two performances I’ve ever seen. His discipline, his positional sense, his work ethic and his general understanding of the football match was absolutely first class. Colchester were the better team in the first half without creating much, They had the majority of possession and they caused us problems with their movement.
“It’s a very good day, that’s three clean sheets in a row.”
Former Newport striker Frank Nouble registered the only shot on target during a dull first-half, while the hosts lost winger Robbie Willmott to a pulled hamstring after 34 minutes.
The deadlock was finally broken when Amond flicked Matty Dolan’s corner on at the front post to give Matt a simple close-range volley.
Bakinson then produced an excellent pass for Pring to fire home the second and secure the three points for Newport.
Colchester made it four games without an away win, but manager John McGreal believes his attacking philosophy will bring success to the club.
“We know how much work we’ve got to do,” he said. “It’s a tough division, you just have to look at the results this weekend. All we’ve lost is three points.
“We passed the ball well through the thirds and got to the attacking third, neither team created much in the first-half.
“It’s disappointing to concede two poor goals, but on the other side we kept going and still had one or two opportunities. “We’ve had a good start to the season, but we have to build on it and the hard work starts again. “We’ll never get away from our attacking philosophy – win, lose or draw, it’s in our DNA. “We’re not getting the rub of the green at the moment.”