John McGreal: We had to dig in to earn three points
Posted Sunday, November 04, 2018 by PA
Colchester boss John McGreal felt his side had to dig in to claim another 1-0 victory after seeing off Swindon to move up to third in Sky Bet League Two.
Sammie Szmodics drove a low shot home from close range in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage-time, after Frank Nouble had done brilliantly inside the area to set him up, to earn the U’s a third 1-0 victory in their last four games.
He said: “Arsenal built Championship teams on 1-0 wins going back years.
“We haven’t got to that stage at all but it’s a different win.
“I keep saying it but there’s 46 different games to win a game of football and we proved that last week, against Lincoln.
“That was a terrific, gritty performance but I thought it was a lot different today and we played some terrific football at times.
“We had to dig in but the boys knew the importance of the 1-0.
“The goal we scored was no more than we deserved in that first half.
“Sam (Szmodics) is in a rich vein of form at the minute and we have to keep him fit.
“Rene (Gilmartin) made a wonderful save to push (Martin Smith’s shot) away, in the second half but it was a terrific win.”
The only downside to Colchester’s win was an ankle injury suffered by their leading scorer Luke Norris, who was stretchered off late in the first half.
“He was in a lot of pain at half-time, so we wish him really well,” added McGreal.
Swindon pressed for an equaliser in the final 20 minutes, with Colchester keeper Rene Gilmartin making a fine point-blank range save to deny Martin Smith, before Keshi Anderson dragged a glorious chance wide after being picked out by fellow substitute Steven Alzate.
Swindon boss Phil Brown said: “We showed them a little bit of respect and they’d won four on the bounce (at home), so they’ve got something going here for sure.
“Their confidence levels were high and we had a game plan to get a foothold in the competition, which was to win the game.
“That was applied to the letter until (Luke) Norris went down – when he got stretchered off two minutes before half-time we fell asleep in the two minutes of extra-time which is something that appears to be happening week in, week out.
“It’s not just one player; it’s everybody and it’s a collective mentality that seems to be sneaking in and not focusing and concentrating for 90 minutes.
“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb but to be fair, apart from a great save from the goalkeeper and Keshi’s (Anderson’s) glaring miss, we should be coming away with a point if not more.”
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