CHILVERS AT DOUBLE FOR DOGGED U’S
WAYNE Brown was left breathing a sigh of relief after admitting his Colchester players “dug themselves out of a hole” by coming from behind to win at bottom-club Scunthorpe.
The Iron had led 1-0 through Joe Nuttall’s early opener, but two bookings in six minutes for Luke Matheson saw them reduced to ten men and the U’s took advantage with Noah Chilvers scoring twice and Owura Edwards adding to it in the second half.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game, but we didn’t help ourselves at times,” said boss Brown.
“Scunthorpe tried to be solid and frustrate us after having a man sent off, but we made a couple of changes and some of the things we’ve been working on on the training ground paid off.
“You talk about character and belief and the players have had to dig themselves out of a hole after not performing as well as they should have done in the first half.”
Bottom-of-the-table Iron had gone in front courtesy of Nuttall’s close-range finish in the 11th minute, and were good value for their lead.
But the game turned following home Matheson’s sending off 10 minutes before halftime for a second yellow card.
The visitors dominated after the break and drew level when Chilvers charged three-quarters of the length of the field and found the far corner in the 61st minute.
Six minutes later and the U’s were in front, with goalkeeper Rory Watson, who had earlier denied Chilvers, Brendan Sarpong-Wiredu and Freddie Sears, helpless as Edwards slotted home following a clever one-two.
Chilvers headed in a third Colchester goal to make the points safe after 76 minutes when the U’s returned the ball into the box after Watson had again done well to save from Sears.
Scunthorpe hit both the bar and the foot of a post in a late spell of pressure, but never looked like stopping the
U’s from making it backto-back league wins for the first time this season, and putting further daylight between themselves and the relegation zone.
Iron boss Keith Hill’s postmatch ire was directed at referee Alan Young, who he felt missed a key moment in the build-up to Colchester’s equalising goal.
“I accept the red card, for two yellow card offences, but what I don’t accept or understand is the lack of a free-kick for us in Colchester’s opening goal,” he said.
“It’s as clear as day - there’s a handball, and the referee was actually told by the fourth official and ignored him.
“I don’t think the referee understands the dynamic of the game. He had a bad day at the office today.”