YOU could hear the relief in Gavin Massey’s voice as he talked about his first two goals of the season. He has drive and ambition, and in the afterglow of Saturday’s goals he reflected that after nearly 100 appearances for the U’s he needs to be making his mark.

Gavin is still only 22 but he understands that he is one of the more experienced players who has to take a leadership role, saying: “Gaffer told me before Preston that I am one of the main guys in the team and I have to pass on some of the information to the team. In the last 10 minutes of the game I’m telling the boys to see out the game as young teams can be naive because of inexperience.’’

You can tell Gavin thrives on being trusted with that responsibility as it boosts his confidence. Everyone loves respect, and as Gavin has matured respect has followed responsibility. But it was his words about the immediate future of the club that are the most upbeat.

“It’s a young team but we dig in and keep going,” he said. “We’ve got an unbelievable group of players. In a couple of years’ time if we all stick together Colchester could be back as high as it’s ever been. There’s only one way to go from here. We just want everyone to stick with is and the wins will come, then we’ll go to higher places.”

Gavin talked about operating in the holes between defence and midfield. There’s nothing new on the football pitch, and a former manager used to shout ‘Stand still’ when players were free in a position between the lines from where you do just about anything – deliver a killer pass, shoot, spray the ball wide, or drive forward. I hope Gavin finds a few more of those positions because his finishing was top drawer, precisely firing into the only available gaps on two occasions.

It’s impossible to overstate how important our equalising goal was just before the break. It was needed because we conceded against the run of play, and were finding it increasingly hard to knock Fleetwoood out of their rhythm.

In football, as in life, it’s not what you watch but what you see. How many people saw goalkeeping coach George Bankole go to Sam Walker first as he left the pitch after 90 mins, warmly congratulating him on a superb second 45 mins, and giving him a little hug? Maybe he had spoken to Sam at half time, told him that what happened in the first half was history, the second half was all that matters, and that the time for analysis is during the week. Sam’s still an apprentice in goalkeeping terms, and he’s another player that we will see him grow into responsibility.

David Fox won top marks from me. Only a dedicated professional would step into their first game of the season as seamlessly as Foxy. The more we get the ball to him, the more he will dictate tempo and direction, like a metronome. His passing will make the pitch bigger, and everyone will benefit.

Frankie Kent was selected ahead of Magnus Okuonghae, and if this was extra cause for pressure, then it didn’t show. When you see the least experienced player in the team looking like the defensive leader and using the ball immaculately, and usually on the ground.

The knowing South Stand already break into a little round of spontaneous applaud when Frankie make the difficult look easy by speed of thought as much as technique. It reminds me of the relationship the Trent End at Forest used to have with Des Walker, or the shelf at Spurs fans with Ledley King.

But I have definitely blown enough smoke for this season. It’s the last thing Frankie needs.