Interim manager Matthew Etherington was delighted with the guts shown by his Colchester players as they beat Grimsby 3-2 in their League Two showdown on Tuesday night.
Etherington took charge for the first time at Blundell Park after Colchester sacked Ben Garner and the former Premier League midfielder oversaw a deserved victory with Joe Taylor, Zach Mitchell and Arthur Read all on target.
Grimsby had taken the lead when goalkeeper Owen Goodman turned into his own net in bizarre fashion, with Donovan Wilson also scoring for the hosts.
Colchester had been consigned to four straight defeats before their midweek trip to Cleethorpes and that, ultimately, cost Garner his job as manager.
Etherington said: “You can go through all the tactical stuff you want and that’s all important, but heart and desire are the most important things.
“We showed that in abundance tonight with blocks, tackles and our effort.
“It was nothing short of brilliant and full of guts.
“That was the most pleasing thing for me, but we eventually got a foothold in the game [after the opener] and then played some really, really good stuff.
“You can’t blame Owen [Goodman] for the first goal.
“It’s taken a deflection and there was so much spin on the ball. I could see it from where I was in the dugout.
“He then made a brilliant save at 2-2 when he tips that one on to the post.”
Grimsby manager Paul Hurst said: “I’m not going to come out here and make excuses, but I will always be honest with what I see.
“In the second half in particular, it was one-way traffic.
“That [third] goal is from nothing and we had a really good chance right at the end and their goalkeeper has made two good saves.
“I can’t go and kick a bin, throw something or go mad at them, because I genuinely don’t think the players deserve that, but we have lost the game again.
“Colchester have had three attempts on target and they’ve scored three goals, but that’s happened far too often, so maybe it’s not meant to be.”
Grimsby were gift-wrapped their opener after seven minutes when Will Greenidge hacked back towards his own goalkeeper and Goodman could do nothing but help that wayward pass into the net.
Read teed up Taylor for the equaliser three minutes later as the latter finished low and powerfully into the corner, while Colchester then went in front 10 minutes before half-time as Mitchell nodded in from a Read corner.
Grimsby improved after the interval and Wilson made it 2-2 with a neat left-footed strike with 52 minutes on the clock.
Goodman kept Colchester in the match with two stunning saves and that proved to be telling with Read going on to grab a 64th-minute winner.
