Colchester United boss Tony Humes praised his side for showing “fantastic team spirit” to record their first win of the season, a 2-0 success at Leyton Orient this afternoon.

The U’s went down to 10 men, just before half-time, when skipper Magnus Okuonghae was sent off for a rash challenge on ex-U’s loanee David Mooney.

But the 10-man U’s performed heroics in the second half to take all three points, thanks to super-cool finishes by Sanchez Watt (62mins) and Freddie Sears (72).

“I’m absolutely delighted,” enthused manager Humes.

“We got more than we expected, after going down to 10 men.

“I thought we lacked a little bit of belief in the first half. We went away from our game-plan, but we defended resolutely and got to half-time at 0-0.

“I decided to stick with two up front, after Magnus got sent off, because I wanted us to stay positive.

“We had to be brave, and we had to be braver on the ball than we had been in the first half.

“And I thought we played better with 10 men than we had done with 11.

“It was a fantastic finish from Sanchez (Watt) for his goal, and Freddie (Sears) worked his socks off all afternoon. He is shattered,” added Humes.