Danny Cowley was delighted with his Colchester side’s “complete performance” in their 2-0 home win over Gillingham.
Lyle Taylor gave the Us a sixth-minute lead when he fired in from close range after Gills goalkeeper Glenn Morris had saved Jack Payne’s shot.
And John-Kymani Gordon sealed Colchester’s win in the 86th minute, scoring from the edge of the area after fellow substitute Tom Hopper had been denied following a Gillingham defensive error.
Colchester boss Cowley said: “We worked really hard and put a really complete performance together – it was a well-deserved win.
“We played really well in the first half and it was system v system, 4-2-3-1. We were able to get really good control.
“The pitch is not always easy but we played with real bravery and we got lots of penetration from both wide players. We hurt them down the left and scored a really good goal.
“We should have then had a second goal, as Oscar Thorn was definitely onside. We didn’t but we got over the disappointment and we had really good dominance in the first half.
“They changed their system at half-time and made two subs and went to a back three but we were still able to get really good control and got a well-deserved second goal.
“Once we got that, we probably could have been more ruthless and had a third and fourth.”
Colchester, who extended their unbeaten run to 10 matches with the win, might have been further ahead at half-time, with Thorn having a goal disallowed for offside and Taylor’s long-range effort hitting the bar.
Jack Nolan was denied before half-time by Us goalkeeper Matt Macey, who also made a fine save from Robbie McKenzie in the second half, but Gillingham were well beaten.
Gillingham boss Mark Bonner said: “It’s a bad day for us.
“I’m not sure there’s anyone who would hold their hand up today and say they’ve had a good game, against a team who really were there in the game.
“In the first half, we were outfought for duels continually. We had to do something at half-time to try and create some sort of response.
“We caused them a problem with the shape change but there’s a downside to us where we get a bit overloaded in the wide area.
“We had a bit more control in the second half but not enough quality in those moments.
“Lots of things we tried to prepare the players for, we didn’t cope with and didn’t do well enough.
“We’re not showing enough quality and consistency at the moment. We have to give more and do better – all of us – in order to make sure we do it.”
