Colchester United were left heartbroken when they were denied three precious points by a stoppage-time equaliser against Scunthorpe United this afternoon.

Substitute Hakeeb Adelakun netted in the second minute of stoppage-time for the Iron to earn the visitors a 2-2 draw and leave the U's facing an uphill struggle to avoid relegation.

Tony Humes' side are four points adrift of safety in League One with three matches remaining, following a disappointing ending at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.

Richard Brindley was denied by Scunthorpe keeper Luke Daniels midway through the first half, while Gavin Massey missed a great chance when he headed Jacob Murphy’s cross wide with only Daniels to beat.

But Colchester fell behind on the half hour through Theo Robinson, who curled a delightful shot into the far top corner after the Colchester defence had failed to deal with Daniels’ long kick.

Isaiah Osbourne went close for the visitors with a long-range effort before the break, as the U's went in at half-time trailing.

Rhys Healey was sent on for Alex Gilbey early in the second half and the formation was changed to 4-2-3-1, as Colchester went for an equaliser.

Massey's fierce shot was finger-tipped onto the bar and Colchester finally equalised with nine minutes remaining when Tom Eastman slammed home from six yards, after Scunthorpe had failed to deal with Massey's corner.

And Porter put the U's ahead four minutes later when he latched onto David Fox's pass and got past Marcus Williams in the area before drilling decisively past Daniels.

But Adelakun got past Matt Briggs and then saw his deflected shot spin over Walker and in, to leave the U's players devastated.

For five pages of coverage of the U's game with Scunthorpe United, see Monday's Daily Gazette.