Danny Cowley hails attitude of Colchester match-winner Owura Edwards

Colchester boss Danny Cowley hailed Owura Edwards’ response to being left out of the team after the winger came off the bench to earn his side a 1-0 win at Bristol Rovers.

The 24-year-old former Bristol City player curled a delightful shot into the top corner after 85 minutes, 12 minutes after his introduction, to score his first league goal of the season.

Cowley praised the attacker’s mindset and also saluted fellow replacement Frankie Terry for his defensive work after replacing injured full-back Ellis Iandolo in the seventh minute.

“The boys (not in the team) work so hard every week, doing extras, and the subs never know when the opportunity is going to come, but they know they have to be ready,” said Cowley.

“And the most professional players are always ready. Frank came in and put in a really solid performance, but Owura will get the headlines.

“I said to Owura in there, he’d played well against MK Dons, the best team in the division, and I left him out and he was really unfortunate.

“I’ve seen enough players in dressing rooms that sulk at that moment, but he didn’t. He understood and he just said to me last night, ‘When you need me I’ll be ready’.

“He comes on to the pitch and he practises that (shot into the top corner) rep after rep after rep in training, so when the moment comes he’s ready to find that goal.”

Steve Evans recognised the quality of Edwards’ strike made the difference but stressed some of his squad were jaded following their 4-3 FA Trophy defeat to Plymouth in midweek.

Rovers were second best for large parts of the game at the Memorial Stadium, with the visitors also hitting a post and drawing a great first-half save from goalkeeper Luke Southwood.

Evans’ team could only muster one shot on target, although recalled loanee Isaac Hutchinson did hit the crossbar late in the game.

“It was a fantastic strike and worthy of winning any match, but we made it so easy for him,” Evans said of the goal.

“We weren’t ourselves today. I think the Plymouth match on Tuesday took a lot out of certain individuals.

“The goal was highly preventable because we send him inside to have a shot, but to be fair the kid sticks it in with a fantastic strike with power.

“The referee was terrible today. He was poor and inconsistent, but we won’t hide behind that. Our performance levels were not what they were against Plymouth, that’s the disappointing aspect. We lacked a real zest in our
play.”