PAUL Reid could not have picked a better time to score his first goal for Colchester United - against his old club!Reid headed home Johnnie Jackson's pinpoint cross to heap the misery on his former club Northampton Town.

Carl Marston

Colchester soccer, quotes story for EADT

By Carl Marston

PAUL Reid could not have picked a better time to score his first goal for Colchester United - against his old club!

Reid headed home Johnnie Jackson's pinpoint cross to heap the misery on his former club Northampton Town. And it proved to be the match-winning goal in a 2-1 success.

“The coaching staff were giving me some stick about having not scored,” admitted Reid.

“I knew that I was due a goal. We talked in the dressing room about how much height we had in our team, so we consciously wanted to pile in on the keeper.

“We got in some good crosses and I was lucky enough to score. It may have been against my old club, but that didn't make it anymore special because I actually had a good year at Northampton. It's a good club,” added Reid, who made 61 appearances for the Cobblers in 2003 and the first half of 2004.

While central defender Reid produced a man-of-the-match performance against his former club, thanks also to a solid display at the back, the Cobblers duo of Scott McGleish and Luke Guttridge endured personal nightmares against their old employers.

McGleish had plundered 53 goals in 174 outings for the U's, but he missed two sitters on Saturday. Midfielder Guttridge also failed to impress with his passing in the first-half, and it was no surprise when he was substituted at half-time.

It was an afternoon that both would prefer to forget. Reid was certainly relieved that McGleish had left his shooting boots at home.

Reid continued: “I thought we edged the first half, although Scotty (McGleish) missed two good chances. On another day he would have scored from both of them,” continued Reid.

“I knew that it had been a while since we had claimed back-to-back wins (nearly 20 months). It's good to get that unwanted record off our back. Now we are beginning to rectify what has been a poor start to the season.

“I'm in the team to challenge headers. Hopefully, I will win more than I lose, which is what happened today,” added Reid.

Meanwhile, U's manager Paul Lambert was in good spirits after overseeing the U's first back-to-back victories since April, 2007.

The Scotsman joked: “I told the lads it was 18 years since they had won back-to-back games! I'm not one for records, but 19 months or so is a very long time.

“It was an incredible effort from the players. We were excellent in the first half and deserved to score our two goals. We could have got a couple more, and then we defended well when we had to in the second half, as well as looking dangerous on the break.

“They were two great crosses for the goals. Dean Hammond produced a terrific cross for Clive Platt (first goal). With a player of Clive's height and power, we just need to keep putting these crosses into the box.

“The two new lads were also terrific. Jimmy Walker is an excellent goalkeeper and he's also a big character to have around the dressing room. Dean Gerken is struggling with his hip at the moment.

“Marc Tierney was also superb for us at left-back, but then I knew he would,” added Lambert.

Northampton manager Stuart Gray said: “Colchester are in a false position, having come down from the Championship. They are under-achieving at the moment, and I knew they would be dangerous. We cannot afford to give teams a head-start, especially one like Colchester.”