Ben Garner knows wins are needed for relegation-threatened Colchester

Posted Sunday, April 02, 2023 by PA

Boss Ben Garner wants Colchester to turn draws into wins after they were held to a 0-0 stalemate at home to Newport.

The U’s are now only three points above the League Two relegation zone after a third successive draw.

Colchester had their chances to grab a second-half winner, with Samson Tovide firing into the side-netting after going past Newport goalkeeper Joe Day, who also denied substitute John Akinde.

But U’s keeper Kieran O’Hara twice saved from Mickey Demetriou near the end as the points were shared.

Garner said: “We showed character and spirit and, for me, we deserved to win the game.

“We’ve stopped the rot in terms of defeats and had three draws on the bounce and now it’s just turning those draws into the wins that we need.

“It was a tough game in terms of knowing how committed Newport are and the threat they have from set pieces. They play the territory really well and slow the game down.

“We started like a house on fire in the first 10 minutes and just needed a goal.

“We couldn’t get it in those first 10 minutes and had the best chances of the game, with Samson (Tovide) going round the keeper and John (Akinde) when he came on.

“It was about taking one of those chances but we defended really well and stood up to what they do very, very well and slowed the game down – we just needed a goal.”

Newport lie nine points above the relegation zone after following up their win at Tranmere by securing a hard-fought point on the road.

The Exiles came close to grabbing a late winner through Demetriou while Will Evans was denied by O’Hara before half-time.

Newport boss Graham Coughlan said: “It’s a good point – I’d have liked to have won it and we had a couple of chances at the end.

“The way we started wasn’t great and I’ve got to take a bit of responsibility for that because I’ve worked on a plan over the last 10 days and we’ve worked really, really hard on it.

“You could see we were rusty and a little bit leggy and the pitch lent itself to a damp squib of a game.

“It wasn’t great and in the first half an hour, we never got off the bus.

“We were flat and never gave our fans anything to cheer about but we grew into the game and there was some good stuff in the second half.

“I don’t look over my shoulder at the bottom end of the table or being 18th – I’d like us to be further up the division but the performances have been strong.”