Marcus Bean rates Colchester United’s emphatic victory over former club Brentford as one of their finest during his time at the club.

The experienced midfielder scored Colchester’s opening goal on their way to a superb 4-1 win over the Bees, to virtually assure League One status for Joe Dunne’s side next season.

Only defeat for Colchester at Walsall and a 17-goal turnaround on the final day of the season this weekend can now prevent them from staying in the third tier.

And Bean admitted that he and his U’s team-mates were delighted at the final whistle, after also learning that their relegation rivals had slipped up.

Bean said: “The boys were ecstatic as soon as we heard that we’d got ourselves over the line.

“We heard all of the other results and it was the best feeling.

“I think this was definitely one of our most pleasing wins as a squad since I’ve been here."

For more on this story and five pages of coverage of the U's 4-1 win over Brentford, see Monday's Daily Gazette.