Aidy Boothroyd told the Colchester Gazette he felt the U's display against Rovers "was one of their best since he took over as manager in September. "
He said: "It was good to get back to winning ways, especially in the manner in which we did it.
"It was as good a performance as we have had this year and we played football. We did the right things at the right time and I thought that we played some terrific stuff in their half, as well.
"People want us to play sexy football and so do I, but you can't play sexy football in November when the pitch is wet - you have to play both ways.
"I've always found that it's best to win first - you get the style and efficiency afterwards and I thought that we got a great balance."
Boothroyd, the former Rovers' full-back told The Gazette "We've shown what we can be like when we're on our game.
"The players have set standards and now I can measure them up to that on a regular basis. The game was a fair reflection of what we're trying to do here. We're trying to attack teams and to give them problems and get behind them."
Paul Trollope told the Bristol Evening Post that he labelled Rovers' attacking display as "the poorest of the season so far" after they suffered their fifth away defeat on the trot at Colchester.
And the manager acknowledged that the Pirates will look to the January transfer window to beef up their front line after they barely managed a shot in the 1-0 weekend reverse in Essex.
Once Colchester took a first-half lead through Kevin Lisbie, Rovers never looked like getting back into the game.
"We were very poor in the final third - in terms of creating chances, probably the poorest we've been all season," admitted Trollope. "I don't think their goalkeeper had a shot to save, which shows what we produced in that area of the pitch.
"At times we produced some very good defending and passed the ball quite well. But at no stage in the game were we good enough to create or score a goal.
"It's not been a problem all season, but when we got into some good areas in and around the box, we had a catalogue of poor of decisions, poor movement and poor quality.
"We've got what's available at the moment - January is around the corner and that situation may change," he said,
The Exeter Express and Echo had feared that Marcus Stewart would face a "hostile reception" when he faced Rovers at the Memorial Stadium.
But the Devon newspaper underestimated Gasheads who gave "Stewey" a generous round of applause when he came on as sub. It was the first time I have seen a player applaud the opponents fans which to his credit he did although rather sheepishly.
Stewart had told the Express and Echo in the build up to the game: "There are Rovers fans who appreciate what I did and I always gave my all. I did a professional job when I was there. I haven't been back to Rovers since I left. They were at Twerton Park back then and I am glad they are back in Bristol.
"The stadium might have changed, but the people behind the scenes haven't.
"People say I am a City fan, and I am a City fan, but I want what's best for Bristol because I am a Bristolian and the more teams we have from this part of the world playing at a higher level, the better — and that includes Rovers.
"I support City — I did as a kid — but I support Rovers too and I always look out for their results and would never wish anything bad on them.
"I would never want them to lose. I am sure there are City fans who do, but I am not one of them.The time I had there was fantastic and I loved it. I came through the youth ranks and the managers looked after me.
"They gave me the morals in the game I have today and made me the player I am. That is something I will never forget.
"I would never have a go at Rovers — they are the club I joined as a kid because I felt they had the better youth system. Maybe if I had joined City I would have had the same career. I don't know."
Darryl Duffy's goal just about got Rovers across the winning line but Exeter boss Paul Tisdale told the Express and Echo: "I think it would be hard to argue that we weren't the better side on the night.
"Ultimately we lost the game and didn't score but we created a lot of half chances, one or two good chances and we controlled the game. But the black and white of it was we lost, but it's very hard for me to go away today unhappy. You can't be dictated to by results too much and I'm very pleased with the way we played. I'm disappointed we didn't get at least a draw but that's life."
