FORGET Goal of the Month.

Colchester United staged their own version of Goal of the Day competition, on Saturday afternoon.

After the doom and gloom of recent weeks and a winless run of eight matches, the U's got back on track in some style at the JobServe Community Stadium.

Given Colchester's perilous position, most fans might well have taken a scrappy 1-0 victory courtesy of a scrappy winner.

Instead, Matt Bloomfield's side walked the walk and talked the talk, doing all of the basics right and producing real moments of quality, in the shape of the goals that they scored.

Alex Newby's excellent free-kick in first-half stoppage-time was a masterpiece in itself, a goal of Premier League quality on a weekend where all of the focus was on the third and fourth tiers of English football.

But the two goals that followed were of, at the very least, equal quality.

It was a special moment for 18-year-old striker Samson Tovide, who smashed home his first-ever professional goal just before the hour mark.

The U's excellent afternoon was completed in style when Luke Hannant blasted home an excellent long-range strike, in the closing stages.

Gazette:

It was a fine all-round performance by Colchester, not least as it came against a mid-table Doncaster side who had gone into the game full of confidence, following back-to-back league wins.

There were some outstanding individual performances from U's players; Tovide shone in only his third league start, Ossama Ashley was faultless in midfield and experienced central defensive duo Luke Chambers and the returning Tommy Smith were superb.

But above all, this was a highly impressive all-round team performance, arguably one of the best witnessed by a U's side at the Community Stadium for some time.

The signs had been there last weekend, when Colchester had performed well at Crewe Alexandra only to come away from Gresty Road empty handed.

Gazette:

This time, the U's got the rewards they deserved with a positive performance that bore the characteristics of the identity Bloomfield is trying to nurture.

Colchester simply did not allow Doncaster to take any control in the game; they pressed and harried their visitors, playing with high press and high intensity and tempo from the first minute until last and combining that with real moments of quality.

It is what Bloomfield wants to see from his side and perhaps for the first time since his appointment as head coach, everything came together perfectly.

Gazette:

The U's boss deserved his animated celebrations with the delighted home fans after the final whistle.

The pressure had been mounting on Colchester given their winless run and this victory is a big boost for them.

The win moves the U's off the bottom of the League Two table and out of the relegation zone.

And while there is still a long way to go and plenty of work to do for them to move up the table, this impressive win is undoubtedly something to build on.