Substitute Owura Edwards came off the bench to score a superb late winner for Colchester at Bristol Rovers.
The former Bristol City player had only been on the pitch for 12 minutes when he burst past Rovers defender Kofi Balmer to cut infield and curl a shot into the top corner from 25 yards with 85 minutes on the clock.
The win extended Colchester's unbeaten league run to five games.
Danny Cowley's visitors had earlier gone close to scoring when Micah Mbick hit a post after 57 minutes with an impudent flick after Kyreece Lisbie had escaped Joel Senior's close attentions by the corner flag and sent in a low cross.
A fantastic diving save, low to his right, by Bristol Rovers goalkeeper Luke Southwood in the 32nd minute had stopped Samson Tovide opening the scoring for Colchester in the first half.
Rovers' best chance came when Isaac Hutchinson smashed a shot against the crossbar from long range in the third minute of stoppage time as they lost an eighth home league game in a row.
Report supplied by PA Media.
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