Colchester United boss Joe Dunne praised his front-runners for their sharpness during today’s vital 2-1 home win over Coventry City this afternoon.

The U’s had only managed two goals in their previous six matches, but they scored two inside the first 25 minutes against the Sky Blues, thanks to clinical finishes from Freddie Sears and Gavin Massey.

“I’m very pleased. We had a good crowd (4,426) here today and it was a great win for everyone connected with the club,” enthused Dunne.

“Freddie (Sears) looked very sharp and he took his goal really well.

“It was a good run to get behind the defence and it was a good finish.

“The same with Gavin (Massey). He had worked at scoring with his left foot in training this week, and it was a good run through.

“We had other chances as well to score a third or fourth goal, and make it more comfortable for us.

“But at least we were more clinical today. We wanted to use our pace to get behind them, playing a bit more direct at times.

“And I thought defensively we were excellent in the second half,” added Dunne.

Callum Wilson had halved the deficit on the stroke of half-time, and he nearly poached an equaliser in the fifth and last minute of injury time, only for his shot to whistle wide of the far post.