CRAWLEY Town boss Scott Lindsey says he was eager for his side’s game at Colchester United to go ahead after leading them to a 2-1 victory at the JobServe Community Stadium.
The League Two clash was in doubt due to heavy rain in North Essex on Saturday morning but referee Durkin gave it the green light following a pitch inspection and the visitors took full advantage.
Goals either side of half-time from Liam Kelly and Danilo Orsi put Crawley in charge, before Joe Taylor grabbed a stoppage-time consolation for the U’s.
READ MORE: Colchester United fans have their say on Crawley Town defeat
Lindsey said: “The referee didn’t make the decision on the pitch on his own.
“Me and Matthew Etherington made the decision with him and I was happy to play.
“Whilst it wasn’t great, it may have been a gamble for me because it felt that it might have been a leveller for them.
“I felt confident with the team that I picked and I wanted to get the game on, so I said as far as I was concerned, I want to play the game and I think the referee made the right decision.
“The players were brilliant today, really focused.
“You could feel it Thursday onwards and at the training ground on Friday – there was a real focus on everything they did.
“You could tell that the players had the bit between their teeth and that’s why I wanted the game on.”
Crawley have moved up to 11th place in the League Two table, following only their second league away victory of the season.
READ MORE: Colchester struggling at both ends of the pitch after form slump
“The win was the thing we really focused on,” added former Swindon Town boss Lindsey.
“The away form is something that we’ve addressed and something that we wanted to put right.
“We’ve gone from not having great away form to it now being half reasonable, with that result.
“They’d had some chances before we scored, probably too many for my liking.
“Even though we had Will (Wright) and Ben Gladwin in midfield and obviously the three good centre-halves behind them, it still looked a little open for me so it’s something that I need to look at, address and improve on.
“However, it was a professional performance from the lads.
“It’s the fourth time that we’ve had Dion Conroy, Liam Kelly and Ben Gladwin together and it just goes to show that when you have those experienced players on the pitch, how comprehensive it can be.
“All of the four times they’ve been on the pitch we’ve won games.
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“I think the pleasing thing for me is when you do the work on the training ground and you can see those actions.
“We worked a lot on Liam Kelly working with Kellan Gordon on the right side and loads of stuff where we could get in behind them and down the side of them and we did it brilliantly.
“I thought we were really effective in the first half down the right hand side.”
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