When the going gets tough, the tough get going!

And when the chips are down - as they were for Colchester's injury and illness-ravaged squad going into this intriguing encounter with Notts County - team work and team spirit counts for a lot.

Manager Steve Whitton and his proud U's boys found their own meaning within the word team.

Together

Everyone

Achieves

More

Minus six senior players - Simon Clark, Gavin Johnson, Simon Brown, Joe Keith, Tony Lock and Ross Johnson - and last season's leading scorer Steve McGavin for all but the final 17 minutes, Whitton's wonders gelled as a unit straight from the kick-off and swept lacklustre County aside with an ease belying their lowly ranking in the Second Division.

It is no fluke the U's are sitting at the heart of the table today - in 13th spot - well clear, for the moment, of any relegation threat with very winnable games against struggling Luton Town and Oxford to come this side of Christmas.

Young midfielder Chris Keeble - with only one League goal to his name going into the match - and much-travelled striker Barry Conlon, making his last League appearance of a one-month loan spell from Third Division York City - were the U's latest heroes.

Keeble, son of former Layer Road legend Vic, sparked off the quest to clip the Magpies' wings with a super strike at the far post on the stroke of half-time from one of the many quality crosses swung into the visitors' area by the impressive Mick Stockwell.

Although nowhere near as spectacular as his only other League goal - a brilliant diving header in a 3-1 Layer Road win over Cambridge on his debut last April - Keeble's strike capped the U's undoubted superiority over a very disappointing County side.

Conlon wrapped up the points - and a second month on his loan spell - with an equally clinical finish from a great Joe Dunne through ball 12 minutes from time.

The big ex-Southend man - playing with four stitches in his forehead which was bandaged following an 11th-minute clash in County's six-yard box - shrugged off a challenge from Nick Fenton to poke the ball past advancing keeper Paul Gibson to register his first goal for the U's.

Conlon was clearly delighted as he raced to the touchline to salute the home fans, having earlier been off the pitch for nine minutes to receive treatment for his injury.

County went into the game having snatched two goals in the final four minutes to earn a 3-2 victory at bottom of the table Oxford seven days earlier. But there was no such backlash in store for Colchester.

Spurred on by outstanding displays from the energetic Stockwell and Alan White, the U's went close to adding to their score with first-half efforts from Karl Duguid and Conlon, while Anders Jacobsen and Paul Bolland both sent efforts over the bar for the visitors.

The U's did enjoy a lucky let-off before they had scored when Andy McDermott's 25-yard piledriver smacked against an upright with keeper Andy Woodman well beaten.

But Woodman was well up to the task just before Keeble scored with a full-length save to thwart Danny Allsopp who greedily shot at goal to the annoyance of the unmarked and better placed team-mate Ian Hamilton.

The U's continued to enjoy the upper hand after half-time. Jason Dozzell - back in the side after missing the goalless draw with Wycombe - and Stockwell both going close inside two minutes of the restart.

All-action defender White also saw a powerful close-range header from an inch-perfect Stockwell flag-kick well saved by Gibson, while Keeble had a 20-yard shot deflected for a corner.

Stallard, back in the Magpies line-up after completing a three-match ban, did bundle the ball into the U's net on 68 minutes, but the referee ruled out the goal because of a foul on home skipper Scott Fitzgerald.

It was the last time Jocky Scott's Meadow Lane men were to get anywhere near the U's goal.

And with Conlon rubber-stamping a deserved victory ten minutes later, Whitton's warriors ran out deserved winners with on-loan keeper Woodman keeping his third successive clean sheet and an unbeaten record for Southend and the U's stretching to 16 matches.

(right) Getting shirty - U's striker Karl Duguid is the man with a message.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.