IT was a family affair for Mark Yeates as the bubbly Dubliner inspired Colchester United to a dream 5-0 victory over stuttering Carlisle.

Carl Marston

IT was a family affair for Mark Yeates as the bubbly Dubliner inspired Colchester United to a dream 5-0 victory over stuttering Carlisle.

Yeates' brother and cousin were over from Ireland to watch him in action, and the ex-Tottenham winger delivered with a five-star performance.

He set up the first for David Perkins on Saturday after just three minutes, before scoring the next two goals himself to put Colchester out-of-sight before half-time. The 23-year-old teased the Carlisle defenders all afternoon.

“I was speaking to my brother and cousin before the game, and I told them that we had a big win in us this afternoon,” revealed Yeates.

“They had both come over to watch me play. In fact, I always seem to do well when my family are watching, so maybe they should come over more often, so long as I don't have to pay for the tickets.

“This result and performance was long over-due. We were always likely to give someone a hammering.

“And of course it's a real relief for everyone to get the first win at the new ground. We need to get our home fans behind us.

“We should have seen it through against Oldham (2-2), we could have nicked it against Huddersfield (0-0), and we gave ourselves a mountain to climb with those two early goals against Millwall (2-1 defeat).

“The Bristol Rovers game (1-0 defeat) was very flat, and the MK Dons game was disastrous (3-0 reverse), so today it was extra special to get the result and the performance.

“We were 3-0 up at the break, and in the dressing room at half-time we said that we could win this by five or six goals,” added Yeates.

Flying winger Yeates is leading the way with six goals for Colchester this season. He has also struck the woodwork on three occasions at home.

“I like to set myself targets, and I want to get at least 10 goals by Christmas,” insisted Yeates.

“That's six now, and I'm heading in the right direction. We've got two more games in quick succession, at Northampton and Southend, and if we can get six points from these two, then we'll be right up there at the right end of the table,” concluded Yeates.

Manager Paul Lambert described his team's display as “terrific.” The U's have now won two of their three games since the Scotsman took over the managerial reins a fortnight ago.

“It's a fantastic win for us. The lads were terrific, which they have been in the two weeks that I've been here,” insisted Lambert.

“It all went right for us today, and hopefully we can get this place really rocking in the weeks to come.”

However, one sour note is that Steven Gillespie is doubtful for the trip to Northampton tomorrow due to a sore hamstring.