Ben Garner hails ‘dominant’ Colchester after easing past Crewe in survival bid

Ben Garner hailed his “dominant” Colchester side after they thrashed Crewe 4-0 to boost their League Two survival hopes.

The U’s took a 24th-minute lead when John Akinde converted Samson Tovide’s pass from close range and he celebrated his brace to extend Colchester’s advantage four minutes later from close range.

The hosts made it 3-0 in the 40th minute through Noah Chilvers and Tovide sealed victory in the 55th minute, finishing smartly past James Beadle as Colchester moved four points above the drop zone.

U’s boss Garner said: “It was a really dominant display and a thoroughly-deserved result.

“We’re pleased with another clean sheet and credit to all of the players today.

“The second half was pleasing – we went 3-0 up and had a couple of chances in the first half but the challenge in the second half was about not lowering those standards and not giving them a foothold back into the game in any way, shape or form.

“It was a really, really professional second-half performance and a comfortable victory.

“We could have had six in the first half and that’s without mentioning the penalty which is not only a penalty but a red card, at 2-0.

“Fortunately, that didn’t come back to hurt us or have any impact on the game so massive credit to all of the players for the way they’ve worked, been building towards this result and it was thoroughly deserved.”

Crewe boss Lee Bell made no excuses for his side’s defeat.

He said: “It could have been seven – a really poor, lacklustre performance with a lack of energy and determination, compared to what they showed.

“Coming into the game, they’ve played in really tight games in the last five or six and we were expecting a tight game but after five minutes, they were miles more up for the fight than we were and they were on top.

“We didn’t show enough fight to get back into the game.

“I spoke to some of the fans after the game and it’s on me, for my reasons which I’ll keep to myself – a lot of that can be on me today.

“I apologise to the fans.

“There’s a demand to be competitive and win every week and if you drop your levels so much and don’t compete, you’re going to be on the end of that and I thought they fully deserved their win.”