Derry delight at character

Shaun Derry is confident there is more to come from Notts County after Liam Noble's second-half stunner sealed a 2-1over Colchester.

Deprived of six players through injury, there were some who thought Derry might be forced to put his boots back on but the Magpies managed to claim their first league victory of the season without him. Ronan Murray put the hosts in front before veteran goalkeeper Roy Carroll made a string of impressive saves in the first half. Freddie Sears eventually broke through in the second half but while Derry was still making his way to the stands for protesting about the equaliser, Noble's stunning drive had his men back on top. Cieron Keane and Nicky Wroe were both sent off for picking up two yellow cards but Notts held on for all three points - much to Derry's delight. "I'm glad everybody saw the goal, because I didn't as I was just making my way to the stands after being sent there. But I've seen Liam Noble's goal on the replay and it was a fantastic," said Derry. "I'm really pleased for Noble who has proved he can get goals from midfield. It was touch and go whether he was going to play because of his head injury, but he wanted to. "He had a Terry Butcher style headband on and he still wanted to be out there. He wanted to give everything for us and that typifies the characters I have. "It is a polar opposite to what I had last year. We showed tremendous character. We were missing five or six players through injury as well. "Even the top clubs who have the big budgets and the big squads would have felt the effect of missing so many players. It did cause us problems on Saturday, and it did tonight, but we found a way to win. "I asked them to affect the game and the players certainly did that. I was disappointed to be sent to the stands after they equalised, but I've apologised because I let the lads down." Colchester boss Joe Dunne was left frustrated after an impressive performance away from home saw them emerge empty-handed. "The performance was outstanding. To come away from home and take a team apart with the ball was very pleasing," said Dunne. "Unfortunately we just don't have the result to show for it. Overall I am very proud of how we played. We passed the ball magnificently. "People will say it's a results business, but I want to get results playing that way. It's the best performance I've had from the players since I took over. "We kept going and their winning goal was their first shot of the second half. It's a sucker punch and we have to take that on the chin."