FREDDIE Sears admits that he would have been “devastated,” if Colchester United had not held on to win at Portsmouth on Saturday.

Sears tucked home a 15th minute penalty, and was also involved in both of Gavin Massey’s early goals, as the U’s duly recorded a 3-2 victory at Fratton Park.

But they had to dig deep during the second half, to keep Pompey at bay.

“It was a great win, although it should have been easier than it was,” admitted Sears.

“We were 3-1 up at half-time, but it could have been more, five or six.

“We really opened them up, and we looked like scoring on the counter-attack all the time, with the pace we had in the team.

“There was a lot of room in behind their defence, and our game plan worked brilliantly in the first half. We would have liked to have been out of sight by half-time, because it gave them a chance to get back into it.

“And we would have been devastated if we had come away with just a point, or even nothing.

“We knew that Portsmouth would come all at us in the second half, playing down their end in front of their fans, and we did well to hang on.

“It shows we have come on, over the last month. A few weeks ago the result may have gone the other way, with Portsmouth getting another two goals.

“We all worked hard and stuck together,” added Sears.