AMID horrendously windy conditions at Brunton Park, the best piece of football produced the only goal as Carlisle United stayed within touching distance of the play-off positions.
The Cumbrians capitalised on their good spell of opening play when McGovern surged forward from midfield to instigate a flowing move which was finished off by a wonderful touch from captain Paul Thirlwell.
Ex-Sunderland man Thirlwell said: “I only get forward two or three times a season so we all better enjoy it.
“It was a great pass from Lee [Miller], and I took a touch and managed to toe-poke it past the goalkeeper.
“It was good because I thought we were playing well.
“We could not get the second goal to make it more comfortable and they came at us in the second half, but we defended as a team and I thought we deserved the win.”
Former Cumbrians manager John Ward admitted his Colchester side found the conditions tricky.
He said: “We kicked off and the ball blew back into our half straight away, so I am not even sure how legal that was.
“That, though, shows just what we were up against.
“Carlisle handled it better in the first half and we coped better after the break.
“They got their goal, though, whereas we could not find the back of the net, so we come away with nothing.”
Loy and McGovern brought a string of good saves out of Ben Williams, another former Carlisle United man, but it was not all plain sailing as Colchester took the ball down and played to the conditions in what became a keenly contested game.
Cumbrians manager Greg Abbott said: “We are being told there were nine corners in the first eleven minutes and I have never seen anything like that before.
“The ball was coming in but the defenders could not get enough on it to clear it properly.
“It comes down to defending with everything in situations like that, and then you play your game once you finally manage to get through it.”
Defender Christian Ribeiro, who made his home debut, said: “I thought we worked hard and I enjoyed it, despite the weather.
“ I feel like I have shown people what I can do and I have settled well here. It is going to be tough because Frank Simek is back and will want his place.
“I will keep going and hopefully that will mean the manager will choose me.”
For Abbott, it remains a case of everyone continuing to work hard as the busy December period approaches.
The manager added: “We are going to need everyone because there are tough months ahead.
“It is important we keep picking up points.”
CARLISLE UNITED: Collin, Ribeiro, Michalik, Murphy, Robson, Berrett, Thirlwell, Noble (Zoko 77), McGovern, Miller, Loy. Subs (not used): Gillespie, Livesey, Taiwo, Curran.
COLCHESTER UNITED: Williams, Wilson, Okuonghae, Heath, Coker, Izzet, Bond (James 73), Wordsworth, Vincent (White 69), Henderson (Thomas 89), Odejayi. Subs (not used): Rose, Duguid.
Goals: Carlisle United: Thirlwell (22).
Attendance: 4,435
Referee: Mr Mark Heywood
