Colchester United boss John McGreal on Leyton Orient win

COLCHESTER United head coach John McGreal felt his side deserved their 2-1 win over Leyton Orient this afternoon.

Goals inside the opening half hour from Kwame Poku and Ryan Jackson put the U's in command.

But Conor Wilkinson's strike got Orient back into the game before the break and Colchester had to be content with a narrow victory.

McGreal said: “It was a very pleasing win.

“The pleasing thing is that we’ve got back-to-back wins.

“We were the better team with some of the football we played, the goals we scored and the threat we were at times.

“When it’s only that one goal in it you don’t want to be that little bit squeaky.

“The pleasing thing was that for all of our good football in the first half, I loved the way we started the second half.

“We didn’t feel sorry for ourselves – we kept back on it again and that was the pleasing thing.

“When you don’t get the third goal, you then look to try and protect and that’s what I thought happened in the last 15 or 20 minutes.

“We had a little bit of luck at times but I also felt they had some when we went through to try and make it 3-1.”

Poku marked his first home start for Colchester with a goal when he fired home after less than three minutes.

The 18-year-old only broke into the first team set-up last month and boss McGreal says he was delighted for the youngster.

"We try and bring these boys in at the right time," said the U's boss.

"Kwame - or KP as we know him - has been like a duck to water since he's come in.

"He could have had two goals.

"It was a brilliant goal and he's ghosted in, round the back of their back four.

"But I thought his all-round display was cultured and calm and he's only just turned 18.

"He has a big, big future ahead of him."

Jackson added a second goal for Colchester just before the half hour - a goal boss McGreal admits took him by surprise.

He said: "I thought it had gone into the side netting and it took me by surprise.

"There was a little bit argument towards the referee and the linesman about the ball going out and I'm looking on what's going on here.

"The ball has gone over to the other side and I saw Jacko take a shot.

"I've seen him score from there before but I've also seen a couple go past the post.

"When I saw it nestle in the back of the net I thought 'wow, what a strike'.

"It took me by surprise - not because I didn't think Jacko could do it but because of what went on before that."

Colchester were pegged back just before half-time when a rare error from goalkeeper Dean Gerken allowed Wilkinson to capitalise.

"Tom gets a toe to it but then it comes back as a back-pass," added McGreal.

"If (Gerken) is going to clear it, the man is straight in front of him and he's tried to get it back onto his foot.

"Dean knows but he's been brilliant for us and I thought that second-half performance was us trying to win also for him, because he's kept us in games quite a number of times this season."