Colchester boss Danny Cowley admitted his side made life difficult for themselves but was delighted with the way they fought back to claim a crucial win over Newport.
The relegation-threatened U’s were without a win in eight matches and looked set for more frustration in a game where Cowley felt they had ‘total dominance’ after falling behind to Offrande Zanzala’s 42nd-minute opener.
But Ellis Iandolo drew the hosts level with 15 minutes to go before Jay Mingi struck in the second minute of stoppage time, securing a dramatic 2-1 victory that keeps Colchester a point above second-bottom Sutton in League Two.
Cowley, speaking after his first home win as U’s boss, said: “It was probably the best way for us to win a game when we haven’t won for so long.
“To win it that late on, it didn’t give us that much time to think – we don’t make it easy for ourselves, do we!
“It was a really good win for us.
“We had total dominance of the game and total control.
“In the first half, we were the only team taking the game and they obviously sat very deep and made it very difficult for us.
“We had to have good emotional control and we did that but then conceded a goal from nowhere.
“It’s a bad habit that we have and we made life difficult for ourselves but credit to the players.
“To come in at half-time behind to a team that pretty much hadn’t had a shot on target is tough but I was pleased with the second-half performance.”
Colchester’s Alistair Smith hit the crossbar in the first half while Newport goalkeeper Nick Townsend denied John Akinde minutes later.
Newport took the lead through Zanzala when he scored after a mix-up between U’s goalkeeper Owen Goodman and Connor Hall.
However, Iandolo equalised in the 75th minute, netting at the far post from Cameron McGeehan’s corner, before Mingi slammed home from Noah Chilvers’ pass to seal Colchester’s victory.
Newport boss Graham Coughlan said: “The performance wasn’t great and nor was the result.
“I thought their bench won them the game – it’s a very, very strong bench and we just don’t have that.
“At this moment in time, we’re missing too many players to be competitive and we’re not strong enough or good enough, at this moment in time.
“We’re coming up short in games and I just think the season is catching up with us.
“We’ve asked a lot of this group of lads and a number of those lads on the pitch have played 51 games – that’s a big, big ask.
“You can see that physically and mentally, we look a team that has played 50-odd games and I just don’t have the strength in depth to impact the games the way they did.
“They (Colchester) are third from bottom and they’re bringing those type of players off the bench and we can’t do that.”
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.
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