COLCHESTER United head coach John McGreal was pleased to see his side register back-to-back wins in League Two after beating Morecambe - and finally win in the North.

Courtney Senior's excellent goal helped the U's triumph 1-0 at the Globe Arena to claim victory and secured victory for the first time north of Colchester since winning at Blackpool back in April, 2016 under Kevin Keen.

Colchester have moved up to fifth with the win - two points off the automatic promotion places - to the delight of boss McGreal.

He said: "It was our first away win up north and we haven't won here (at Morecambe) before, so there were a lot of positives to come from it.

"I don't get involved in things like that but the first thing the lads have come into say to me there is 'gaffer, we've won up north!

"That's a monkey off our back.

"We also kept a clean sheet and I thought we looked a threat on the counter - we look as if we can score.

"I thought we were excellent in the first half and much the better team.

"We passed the ball terrifically well through the lines and got into some really good goalscoring opportunities.

"The second half I thought was a totally different game - they pushed three on and really gambled.

"Credit to Jim (Bentley) for doing that, because they were a different animal in the second half.

"You can see why they've won three out of five of late and it was backs to the wall for us in the second half at times.

"But we put bodies on the line - Rene (Gilmartin) hasn't had a shot to save as such but that's mainly because of the bodies in front of him.

"It was hot in there - you're looking at a few calm heads and the likes of Prosser, Pell, Nouble and Norris tried to take the sting out of the game.

"We've got nothing but praise for the (Morecambe) performance in the second half but I thought we were excellent in the first half."

Boss McGreal had praise for Colchester's 136 travelling fans, the vast majority of whom made the long trip up to Morecambe today from Essex.

"I must credit our fans - I thought they were unbelievable with the drum," said McGreal.

"They were a small following but they made a hell of a noise.

"It's a long journey for them to come all the way up and back in a day so they'll be very pleased hopefully with the three points."