Morecambe boss Derek Adams was full of praise for his side after they claimed a deserved 2-1 win at Colchester to move into the Sky Bet League Two play-off places.

The Shrimps took an eighth-minute lead through John O’Sullivan’s crisp volley from the edge of the area after Aaron Wildig’s corner had been headed away.

And although Colchester scored a 24th-minute equaliser when Michael Folivi’s header deflected in off Cole Stockton following Cohen Bramall’s free-kick, Morecambe netted a 62nd-minute winner when Yann Songo’o nodded in at the far post after Toumani Diagouraga had helped on Wildig’s corner.

Morecambe also hit the woodwork three times and Adams was delighted with their display.

Adams said: “It was a really good performance.

“We came to a Colchester team that hadn’t lost at home this season and we know the threat they can be.

“But to be fair to my players, we probably could and should have scored four or five or more goals.

“We hit the post twice, we hit the bar, their goalkeeper was man of the match and we scored two goals.

“You can see the spirit and togetherness in the players and you can see the ability.

“We’ve got a lot of good players in this team and you can see the confidence as well going right through the squad.

“It’s an excellent victory for us, to come here and win.

“It’s a fantastic strike from John O’Sullivan and then we scored our second from a corner kick as well.

“Over the 90 minutes we created so many opportunities, it was frightening.”

Colchester boss Steve Ball admitted his side were second best after they suffered a first home league defeat of the season to drop out of the play-off places.

Ball said: “No complaints at all – it was a really, really poor day at the office.

“There were glimpses in the first half; we got the goal back but I’m not sure that we even deserved that.

“The messages at half-time were clear – start on the front foot and look to play in their half but from the get go in the second half, we seemed to lose our shape and our concentration and our focus.

“The start of the second half was probably the worst it’s been this season, as far as how not to start a half of football, how not to win your personal battles, how not to defend properly at every angle.

“If it wasn’t for Dean (Gerken) and the woodwork, it could have been a lot worse.

“There’s loads to look back on and try and pin it.

“Yes, we are missing defensive qualities and physicality in areas at the minute and we need to address that quickly.”