Kevin Nolan hails ‘ruthless’ Notts County after comeback at Colchester

Kevin Nolan labelled his Notts County side “ruthless” after a clinical second-half display earned them a 3-1 at Colchester United.

The Magpies trailed at the break to Drey Wright’s 10th-minute goal, after he exchanged passes with Ben Stevenson and slotted in.

Tom Eastman hit the post for Colchester just after half-time but Jonathan Forte equalised five minutes after the break with a low shot.

Shola Ameobi followed up to score after Sam Walker had denied Forte to put the Magpies ahead, while Richard Duffy headed in Dan Jones’ free-kick with 14 minutes remaining to seal victory.

Magpies boss Nolan said: “We had a few choice words at half-time but I just thought we didn’t match the high standards we’d set last week.

“I challenged them to get back to those as quickly as possible and to prove what they’ve shown all season in abundance – which is character, togetherness and spirit – because I thought we lacked it in the first half.

“We were lucky to get in at 1-0 but we were in the game and we did the right things in the second half and we got fantastic goals at the right time.

“It had looked like one of those games in the first half but we showed fantastic character in the second half and we had much better tempo.

“From the first half to the second half we were two different teams.

“But we punished Colchester with our goals and we were ruthless and I thought we deserved it.”

Colchester boss John McGreal criticised referee Brendan Malone for failing to dismiss Ameobi, following an off-the-ball incident with Luke Prosser just before half-time.

McGreal felt Ameobi should have been dismissed for an alleged elbow on the Colchester captain.

The U’s boss said: “The referee was in the perfect position but chose not to see it. I’ve spoken to him and he said he hasn’t seen it.

“I think that’s one of the reasons why he’s only played five games, this year.

“To come in for a top-of-the-table-ish game with both teams with a lot to play for – we get a referee that’s only refereed five games, this season.

“I think he’ll look at it and be disappointed he’s missed one, because it was right in front of him.

“We dominated large chunks of the game, especially the first hour.

“We’ve had around 14 to 16 shots and it’s the same targets that we’re hitting every week and same style of football with plenty of pace and width.

“But we’ve only two players who have hit double figures this year and that proves it – we haven’t been good enough in that area.”