COLCHESTER boss Tony Humes was delighted with the defensive display of his side as they held firm in the second half to see off Swindon Town.

With Callum Harriott scoring just three minutes before the interval to take Colchester into the break with a 2-1 lead, there was little doubt who were in the ascendancy.

Usually in such a situations one might have expected the onslaught to come from a home side looking to overturn such a narrow deficit , but Town struggled to build up a head of steam.

The U’s defended intelligently and seemed to deal well with whatever Town boss Mark Cooper threw at them in terms of tactical changes during the second period.

This was not a side coming to sit on the edge of their own box to defend a lead either. Colchester may not have been as adventurous as they had been in the opening 45 minutes, but they still carried a threat.

As such Humes was pretty happy when discussing how his team kept Town at bay.

“(Swindon) created opportunities, but none were really clear cut apart from (Nicky) Ajose’s (which hit the post),” he said.

“I think they had a few bits and pieces, one from a set piece with a header, which was cleared off the line.

“We got in the lead at half-time and we’ve had to battle to see the game out.

“Some of the football we played in the first half was terrific.

“Had we taken all of our chances, I think we could have been out of the sight possibly in the first half.

“That’s the game – you have to score the goals and you have to defend to keep them out and I thought that to a man, they were superb defensively.

“Swindon are a good team. They just need a little bit of luck. Minor details change things, and other could things dropped differently.

“They could have scored more, they’re a good team and they’re just lacking a little confidence.”