STRIKER Jordan Rhodes revealed Town colleague Donal McDermott ribbed him after he scored a 30-yard wonder goal.
Unmarked McDermott was screaming for a pass out wide on 59 minutes when Rhodes collected a lay-off from Lee Novak.
The frontman let fly, though, with a shot which looped over Colchester keeper Mark Cousins with a slight deflection to tie the scores at 2-2.
“I honestly hadn’t seen Donal,” said Rhodes. “I only had one thing in mind, to shoot. He came up to me afterwards and joked ‘good job you scored!’.”
Rhodes and McDermott then linked up for the winner. The striker cleverly nodded McDermott’s long ball beyond the last defender and Lee Novak lobbed home.
Scotland Under 21 cap Rhodes said: “I thought I might have been in on goal, but I wasn’t totally sure, so I tried to play Lee in and he took the chance brilliantly.
“The turn-around came quickly. It was two goals in five minutes. I think we showed great character to get that first league win under our belt.”
Colchester, who have yet to win in 11 visits to Huddersfield since first crossing swords with Town in the 1970s, led 2-1 at the break.
Kayode Odejayi swept in the first while on-loan Reading striker Michail Antonio grabbed the second.
In a blistering start, Rhodes put Town in front and had a header from a McDermott cross tipped over in magnificent style while Odejayi levelled and had a shot cleared from near the line.
But after that Town hit the buffers, with The U’s playing the better football until half-time. A revival led by substitute Danny Ward turned the tide back again.
Rhodes admitted: “We all said at half time the goals we’d given away were not great. But I thought we went on to put in a good defensive performance.”
The game’s opening goal, created by Jack Hunt’s third-minute cross, underlines the developing talent of Rhodes and his desire to learn from the best.
Rhodes said: “Jack did terrifically well on that run. I arrived in the box a bit early because I thought he was going to cross it, but he didn’t do that.
“He instead carried on and I took a gamble by peeling away from everybody. It helped create that extra half a yard of space.
“It meant that once the cross came in I could put all my concentration into getting a good contact on the ball. Luckily for me I did and it went in.
“When you watch players like Alan Shearer, Michael Owen or Wayne Rooney they’re always moving rather than standing still. I’m trying to learn from that.”
