Greg Halford is no longer a young head, according to Phil Parkinson.

Get in there - Colchester manager Phil Parkinson celebrates his side's 3-2 victory against Doncaster Rovers. Picture: ROB SAMBROOK (45003-10)

The Colchester United boss was delighted with the 20-year-old's performance as he was instrumental in all of the U's goals in their 3-2 win over Doncaster Rovers at Layer Road on Saturday.

It was Colchester's second win of the season in Coca-Cola League One, and put Halford on 82 appearances for the Essex side.

Parkinson said: "We had a number of young players drafted in for the Doncaster game and I said to Greg beforehand that he will be one of the players that they will be looking up to out there.

"He's played over 70 games now and he kept going all the way through the Doncaster match and the younger players have seen that."

Halford was critical in the match, providing the three assists to seal the victory.

Parkinson said that the first two goals came from careful planning and understanding.

He said: "I felt that when we played Doncaster last season they were not good at clearing balls into the box and it was a weakness we had to exploit.

"Greg has the throw to enable us to do that and it doesn't matter if it's League One or the Premiership, if you can find a weakness in a team then you will make the most of it."

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Published Monday, September 12, 2005

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