Colchester United boss Joe Dunne hailed Jabo Ibehre’s winner, against Shrewsbury Town tonight, as a “wonderful goal.”

The U’s grabbed a vital 1-0 victory over the struggling Shrews, thanks to Ibehre’s smart finish on 57 minutes, to ease their relegation fears.

Ibehre crashed home an angled low drive, from just inside the penalty area, and Joe Dunne’s men rarely looked like relinquishing their grip on this game – it was only their second win in their last 10 matches.

“It was an excellent goal by Jabo, a wonderful goal,” enthused Dunne.

“We had been encouraging Jabo to get clean strikes on goal, and I’m really pleased for him. I thought his work-rate was excellent, but overall this was a very good team performance.

“There was a real desire from my team to win this game, but we have to make sure that we now move on to the next game.

“It was a win against a team who could have closed the gap on us this evening.

“I thought we dominated the game. The back four were very disciplined, and the front four gave us so much energy.

“Other than the last 10 minutes, when we probably got a bit nervous, I thought we were pretty comfortable throughout,” added Dunne.

The U’s hit the woodwork twice in the first half, via Brian Wilson’s free-kick and Dominic Vose’s long range shot, but their heads never dropped.

Dunne continued: “We kept believing, even after hitting the bar twice. We kept shooting and we kept being positive.

“We were in Shrewsbury’s position (bottom four) last season, so we know what’s it like. Now we have to prepare for two tough games, against Bristol City (on Saturday) and at Wolves (next Tuesday).”

The U’s are five points clear of the drop zone, with 10 games to play.