DANNY Cowley was delighted to see his Colchester United strike in stoppage-time to seal a dramatic 2-1 win over Newport County this afternoon.

Jay Mingi struck in the second minute of time added on to seal an important victory for the U's at the JobServe Community Stadium, after substitute Ellis Iandolo had cancelled out Offrande Zanzala's first-half strike.

It was a vital win for Colchester, not least because Cowley's side would have dropped into the League Two relegation zone with eight games remaining had they not won due to rivals Sutton United's 2-1 triumph at Salford City.

READ MORE: Colchester 2 Newport 1 - match report as U's claim crucial win

The U's remain a point above the relegation zone, with now eight games left.

Cowley said: “It was probably the best way for us to win a game when we haven’t won for so long.

“To win it that late on, it didn’t give us that much time to think – we don’t make it easy for ourselves, do we!

“It was a really good win for us.

“We had total dominance of the game and total control.

“In the first half, we were the only team taking the game and they obviously sat very deep and made it very difficult for us, took the time out of the game from the first minute.

Gazette:

“We had to have good emotional control and we did that but then conceded a goal from nowhere.

“It’s a really, really bad habit that we have and we made life difficult for ourselves as a consequence but credit to the players.

“To come in at half-time behind to a team that pretty much hadn’t had a shot on target is tough and we've been here before as well but I was pleased with the second-half performance.

"We should have been in front before we conceded that goal.

"Alistair Smith has a great strike that rattles the bar and then Brad (Ihionvien) just couldn't get there quick enough.

READ MORE: Colchester United 2 Newport County 1 - as it happened

"I just thought in the first half, we didn't have enough quality.

"We fought really hard and we tried really hard but we're a better team than that and have better players than that.

"We had a number of moments in the first half but sometimes that's not enough and you have to bring the quality with it."

Gazette:

Cowley was quick to praise goalkeeper Owen Goodman, who responded well after a mix-up between him and skipper Connor Hall had ultimately led to Zanzala giving Newport a first-half lead.

"Owen has made a number of brilliant saves this season," said Cowley.

"He's earned us a lot of points and it was a great response from him in the second half because he's a young goalkeeper and for him to make the save that he did in the second half when we really needed him says a lot about him and the direction of travel that his career is going in, so I have no worries about him at all."