Notts County head coach Martin Paterson hailed his team’s patience after watching Alassana Jatta’s late brace turbo-charge their promotion push and condemn Cambridge to a 2-0 defeat at Meadow Lane.
Chances had been at a premium during what was threatening to become a damp squib of a match until the Gambian striker embellished some fine play involving Tom Iorpenda and Jodi Jones by heading past Jake Eastwood in the 72nd minute.
Jatta, who has now netted four times in as many outings, pounced again 18 minutes later when he took advantage of a rare defensive error by the visitors to thread a measured 25-yard finish into the corner of the net.
Paterson, whose side climbed to fifth, said: “It feels so sweet to get a win at the end of it. You could see me getting impatient with the lads during the first half.
“But I must say that Cambridge are a really well-organised and well-coached team.
“What pleased me is that, at half-time, we realised we had to quicken the game up a bit. They worked hard to give us no space and no opportunities.
“We sped the ball up and changed the structure a bit. We stayed calm and stayed positive.
“I thought that was a really controlled performance.
“But, to nit pick, what we’ll be working on is quickening things up a bit and taking more risks when teams come and look to limit us. There’s always work to do.
“We’re getting a bit of momentum but we are not there yet. What we are showing, though, is that we can win different games in different ways.
“That was a good win. But it wasn’t perfect and so we have to work hard and keep on trying to get better.”
United’s game plan appeared to be working perfectly until Jatta swung the fixture in County’s favour with their first genuine chance of the afternoon. The result leaves them in 13th but only two points behind seventh place.
United head coach Neil Harris said: “For the first 60 minutes, we completely controlled the game. They had all the ball, yes, but they haven’t hurt us or had a chance. There were times when we weren’t good enough in transition but we did look dangerous when we broke and looked like the ones who were going to score.
“We are disappointed as a group because we’ve only given up both chances and on both occasions the ball has ended up in the back of the net.
“Notts County want to pass the ball and pass the ball and wait for you to move and pick you off.
“We had a game plan and for an hour the lads executed it perfectly.
“We aren’t blessed with a great deal of legs in certain areas so we have to be creative in different ways. There is 60 minutes of positivity for us in terms of our shape and discipline.”
