TWO out of three ain't bad! Colchester United striker Steven Gillespie achieved two of his three targets on Saturday, and the main two at that.

Carl Marston

TWO out of three ain't bad! Colchester United striker Steven Gillespie achieved two of his three targets on Saturday, and the main two at that.

Ex-Cheltenham favourite Gillespie had been hoping to start against his old club, and then to score a goal in a U's victory.

Well, the 24-year-old front-runner had to make do with a place on the bench, but when he was finally unleashed by manager Paul Lambert as a 57th minute substitute, he responded by fulfilling his other two aims.

Gillespie headed the U's into a 2-1 lead, and the Essex club never looked back as they recorded back-to-back home wins for the first time since their summer move to the Weston Homes Community Stadium.

“It was the perfect afternoon for me. It was the ideal situation for me to score and us to win,” enthused Gillespie.

“Of course I was very disappointed not to start the game. I know that I will have to fight to get into the starting line-up, but I don't really have an argument with the team winning so many games.

“Things are going really well for us at the moment, and we're pushing up towards those play-offs. We are still a long way behind (nine points off the top six), but we're on such a good run that anything is possible.

“The atmosphere in the stadium is improving. When we got the equaliser, you could hear the fans get behind us. It was great to come back strongly with three goals,” added Gillespie. Former Liverpool trainee Gillespie top-scored with 16 goals for Cheltenham last season, before his summer move to the U's for a club record fee of �400,000.

And he effectively condemned his old club to a prolonged stay in the relegation zone by heading home Pat Baldwin's cross on 78 minutes.

“I don't usually score many goals with my head, and I'd missed a good chance with a header just a few minutes before,” continued Gillespie.

“I was disappointed not to score with that one, though Scotty (keeper Scott Brown) made a good save. When I did score, I didn't go over-the-top with my celebrations, because I didn't want to aggravate the Cheltenham fans. I had some good times there.

“My reaction was one of relief rather than celebration, but I'm a Colchester player now and that was a big goal for us, as well as important one for me,” added Gillespie.

The U's have lost just one of their last nine league fixtures, an impressive run that has seen them clamber out of the relegation zone and up to 11th spot.