John McGreal praises Colchester’s performance after victory over Cheltenham

Posted Sunday, September 02, 2018 by PA

John McGreal praised his Colchester side for showing both their attacking and defensive prowess in a 3-1 win at Cheltenham.

A first-half brace from Luke Norris and Harry Pell’s late penalty against his former club sealed the Essex side’s first away victory of the season.

“It was a terrific defensive performance, especially in the second half and our attacking in the first half was very good, plus the counter attacking in the second half,” McGreal said.

“I don’t think Cheltenham had many shots on target. They built up a head of steam in the second half and was I worried? A bit, yes.

“But I am really pleased with the win after a little bit of a setback last week.

“Credit to the boys, they’ve been excellent and we’ve been able to change the shape and get wins this season.”

McGreal also praised Frank Nouble, who is yet to open his scoring account for the club but put in an unselfish display on the left.

“It was an unbelievable performance,” he said. “He’ll definitely have slept well on Saturday night after that effort.”

Cheltenham’s caretaker boss Russell Milton said he saw enough positives from his side in the second half to feel optimistic, with several new faces added to the squad before Friday’s transfer deadline.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” he said. “We have had to be the best we can with what we’ve brought in and we have signed some good players.

“We have had to see where their fitness is, see what their form is like and it is difficult to integrate them all straight away.

“The second half was how I want to see us play, retaining the ball, moving teams, not panicking and using the ball well.

“We did that, penned them in and on another day we could have had a penalty for a foul on Kevin Dawson at 2-1 down.”

Colchester took the lead from the penalty spot after Pell was tripped in the box by Nigel Atangana in the 12th minute.

Norris stepped up and buried his spot-kick inside the bottom left corner.

It was 2-0 in the 26th minute after Will Boyle tripped Pell and Norris smashed in the resulting free-kick from 25 yards.

The closest Cheltenham came to pulling one back before the break was a Ryan Broom shot that Dillon Barnes turned over the bar during first-half stoppage time.

They did reduce the arrears in the 56th minute when Sam Jones teed up Kevin Dawson for Cheltenham’s first home league goal of the season.

Cheltenham were on top for most of the second period and substitute Tyrone Barnett thumped an effort wide after a step over from Jacob Maddox.

But they could not find a leveller and Pell added Colchester’s third from the spot after Broom brought down Sammie Szmodics in the 88th minute.