Danny Cowley lauds ‘consummate professional’ Jack Payne after Colchester treble

Boss Danny Cowley saluted hat-trick hero Jack Payne after he inspired Colchester to a 4-1 home victory over Barnet.

Payne scored three times in the second half to seal the U’s win and boost their League Two play-off hopes after Nnamdi Ofoborh has cancelled out Arthur Read’s opener for the home side.

Cowley said: “Jack is the consummate professional. He works so hard, not just in training but also off the pitch in terms of his recovery.

“He will have worked every single minute of every single day in his last seven to get on the right side of that.

“It’s a really good win. We were running on fumes and we had to really dig deep.

“But I think we should take a lot of confidence from the way we played in the second half, with the physical load we’re able to suck up and the way the players ran and fought for each other.

“We said to the players that technical and tactical will help you in the second half but this is mental now and the team that wants to win the most will find a way to win.

“I thought our second-half performance was something we can be proud of.”

Colchester took a 39th-minute lead through Read, who collected Rob Hunt’s pass and fired past goalkeeper Cieran Slicker from the edge of the box.

However, their advantage was short-lived as, in the first minute of first-half stoppage time, Ofoborh slotted home from close range after Kabongo Tshimanga had dispossessed Harvey Araujo near the area and delivered a cross.

But Colchester regained their lead in the 75th minute through Payne, who scored from the spot after substitute Jaden Williams had been fouled by Danny Collinge.

Payne scored again two minutes later when he collected Teddy Bishop’s pass and calmly lifted the ball over the advancing Slicker and into the net.

He completed his impressive hat-trick in the fourth minute of stoppage time when he latched onto Williams’ pass to secure an emphatic victory.

Barnet boss Dean Brennan said: “The minute [Nikola] Tavares went off the pitch, the whole game swung in their favour, he’s that important to us.

“In the first half, we were strong, we were good and responded really well after going a goal down.

“It was a fantastic goal by Nams, good composure, good finish and brilliant press from Kabby.

“It was a great goal and it was something we had worked on.

“But I thought Payne was sensational for them in the second half and the minute Tavs went off, we were awful and for them, Payne stepped up and full credit to them.

“In the last 20 minutes of the game, I thought they were devastating and that’s the most anyone has taken us apart this season.

“Maybe the strength in depth of their squad and the players they brought off the bench helped but our bench didn’t do anything near enough in the game.”