Bradford boss Mark Hughes was delighted to see his side fight back from a goal down to claim all three points – something he admits might not have been the case last season.
Goals from Clarke Oduor and Alex Pattison sealed a 2-1 victory at Valley Parade after a mistake by keeper Harry Lewis had gifted Colchester a ninth-minute lead through Joe Taylor.
Lewis was caught dawdling on the ball from a back pass as the Colchester striker cashed in for his second goal in successive games.
But the Bantams battled back to level before half-time as Oduor converted the rebound after Owen Goodman palmed away Tyler Smith’s shot.
Oduor then turned provider in the second half with the through ball for former Harrogate midfielder Pattison to score the winner.
Bradford boss Mark Hughes said: “I think we certainly deserved the victory.
“We started really strongly and then had the setback with the mistake at the back and got caught out.
“But the most pleasing thing for me was the reaction. Possibly in the past it’s affected us more adversely when we’ve had similar situations.
“We didn’t have the ability to come back when we had setbacks. I don’t think there were too many occasions last year where we had the capacity to get back into games, certainly at home.
“That wasn’t the case today. We dusted ourselves down and kept doing what we knew was going to get us back in the game.
“That’s a good trait that we are displaying to be able to come back when we’ve conceded first.
“We scored two great goals and had any number of chances as well.
“There were big performances from almost everybody. Overall, it was a pleasing day in the office.”
It was Colchester’s first League Two action of the season after their opening game against Swindon was called off half an hour before kick-off due to a waterlogged pitch.
Manager Ben Garner, who admitted it had been a “surreal” first week, said: “We had a good energy considering we played Wednesday night and had 20 hours on the coach this week.
“It’s crazy really. We’re playing two games of football in the space of three days and both went well over 100 minutes.
“We’ve got to adapt to that unless it changes.
“We weren’t far off today against a strong Bradford team that finished in the play-offs last season.
“We made too many errors and I thought they were better on second balls than us. That gave them a lot of impetus in the game and a lot of counter-attack opportunities.
“We’re a young side and we need to learn very quickly.
“There were a lot of positives. We scored a good goal and created a lot of other good opportunities – but there’s a lot we need to improve.”
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
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