COLCHESTER United goalscorer Kevin McLeod had a wry smile on his face after plotting the downfall of league leaders Cardiff City at a “rocking” Layer Road on Saturday.

By Carl Marston

COLCHESTER United goalscorer Kevin McLeod had a wry smile on his face after plotting the downfall of league leaders Cardiff City at a “rocking” Layer Road on Saturday.

Former Swansea City winger McLeod had to withstand a torrent of abuse from Bluebirds fans but he silenced them in emphatic style by breaking the deadlock in the 49th minute of another exciting Championship showdown.

Even though Michael Chopra, the division's leading scorer, netted an equaliser for Cardiff in the 66th minute, the U's finished with a flourish. Jamie Guy regained the lead with his first senior goal at Layer Road, having scored a couple on the road, and Jamie Cureton swept home an injury-time penalty to seal City's fate.

“I enjoyed that goal a lot! The Cardiff fans gave me a lot of stick, which I had expected because of my Swansea connections,” revealed McLeod.

“I thought we played well and deserved to win. Cardiff had their chances, and you can see why they are up there at the top of the table.

“They pegged us back to 1-1, but we are a very hard team to beat on our patch. It was great to score my second goal in two weeks. Johnnie (Jackson) laid the ball to me, and I saw where the keeper was, and made sure that I kept the shot down.

“Now we can look forward to a couple of big away trips to Leeds and Sunderland.”