COLCHESTER United head coach Steve Ball said it was key his side found a way to win following their 1-0 triumph over Forest Green Rovers.

Noah Chilvers' header after barely a minute was enough to give the U's all three points and secure their second win of the season, in League Two.

It was a hard-fought victory for Colchester, who were pressed back at times by a Forest Green side who had gone into the game unbeaten in their opening six league matches.

But Colchester were able to see out the win and bounce back from their disappointing 3-2 loss at Carlisle United, last weekend.

Ball said: “Forest Green are a really good side and I really respect and rate Mark Cooper as a manager and the way he goes about it, in this division.

“They’ve been close over a couple of years and I’ll pick the bones out of how we’ve beaten them but we’ve beaten a really good side.

“We made a great start and we keep on encouraging Noah to get in the box.

“That’s two goals he’s got and I want him to keep getting in the box, because he’s got the quality to finish.

“It was a lovely cross from Miles (Welch-Hayes) and a nice move.

“We were hoping that we could go on a bit from there and tactically, we banked it off a little bit out of respect for them because they’re a very good side.

“It’s not how I normally want to do it but it was a fantastic win.

“If you look at our results this season, we’ve lost leads and we made a big emphasis on that at half-time.

“It happened at Barrow, at Walsall and against Oldham and we made a strong point of really making sure that we’re resilient, robust and strong.

“There are always different ways to win a game.

“I’ve been here a long time now and the key thing in this division is that you find a way to win.

“If we can add that to our obvious quality at times, I think we’ll go a long way."

Colchester commanded only 34 per cent possession in the contest and Ball admits his side could have held the ball more effectively.

But the U's boss was pleased with his whole side for the way they defender.

He added: "All of the players from one to 11 can take a lot of credit for the win and the clean sheet.

“We turned the ball over too much at Carlisle and although we were under pressure (against Forest Green), in areas of the pitch where we could secure it and get our good players on the ball, we turned it over too quickly and you invite a team like Forest Green on the ball all the time.

“We played a system where it was really important that our top man worked their centre-halves.

"They're a fluid team who play three at the back - they're a wide, expansive team.

"Their wing-backs are like full-backs and their wingers are like centre-forwards and we had to get the press right.

"They had possession and shots but I don't think Dean (Gerken) has had many actual saves to make.

"He made a save from Jamille Matt where he needed to block it and he did."