Jimmy Quinn hailed the moments of "quality" from his side that secured a win against Torquay United and a place in the play-offs.

A pair of well-taken goals by Mark Beesley before half-time settled the game against a strong Gulls outfit, and Quinn commented, "Torquay are a difficult team to play against, they're very direct and they put you under a lot of pressure, but I thought every one of our players was magnificent.

"It takes quality to win a game of football and Mark Beesley produced that. The first goal came from a great reverse pass from Dan Gleeson and the second one was a bit of bravery from Lee Boylan; he made the goal getting in there.

"We've been telling the lads to get across that near post a little bit better and he made the goal for 'Bees'.

"It's a great result," he added. "The lads were up for it from the start and yes we had to defend at times because they're very direct and if they get any space at all they'll hit long balls into your box, but I think we've probably got the team to deal with that."

The win completed a double over the second-placed side, which was particularly pleasing to the manager with the play-offs in mind: "I said to the lads before the game that tonight takes on different meanings because if we get defeated and we up up playing them in the play-offs or at Wembley tonight will have a bearing on it.

"But we've beaten them twice now and you have to feed off that, and I think if we do get them they'll be more worried about us than we will about them.

"There were rumours that Torquay were going to play a weakened side here but they played all their big-hitters and we've beaten them. That's fantastic and I thought the first half was probably the best I've seen us play this season; with the defending we did and the quality we produced, it was great to see.

"I think everybody deserved the result tonight. The fans were magnificent and it's a fitting end to the season. We've been in the top five all season and I told the players before the game 'we deserve to get into the play-offs for what we've done'.

"We've had our ups and downs but everybody - even the teams that win the league - has their ups and downs and I just feel that we're going into the play-offs with a bit of confidence. That's four wins out of five and we've done great, and it's all credit to everyone.

"It's nice to come to the end of a season and have something to look forward to and something that you've achieved, and that's all credit to the players for all their hard work. But it's not finished yet, there's still a bit of hard work to do and I want to win the game on Saturday too. I know it's against my old club (Northwich Victoria) but let's go up there and put on a good show for our fans."

Lee Boylan was injured making the challenge that set up the second goal for Mark Beesley and did not reappear for the second half, and Quinn reported, "He got a bang on his knee and a bit of a dead leg as well so we couldn't take any chances with him.

"Lee McEvilly went on instead and you could see he's a bit lacking in match fitness but we'll give him another run out on Saturday. I don't want to stick him in for the whole game because he's not ready for that, so he'll probably start on the bench again and we'll give him another half or maybe an hour.

"He looked a little bit sluggish tonight but you'd expect that with the length of time he's been out, and I thought Mark Beesley had an outstanding game. He produced the quality and quality always wins you a game of football."

The U's travel to Northwich Victoria on Saturday for the last league game of the season. The match kicks off at 5.15pm and you can find away travel details here.

[Match report] [Fixture list] [League table]

Make Your Click Count For The U's - talk about it on the Message Board!

You are respectfully reminded that any article, as with all content on this website, unless otherwise stated, is subject to copyright © and the Official Cambridge United Website must be acknowledged as the original source including all quotes.

AT080422