Shell-shocked Colchester United blew a two-goal lead to lose 4-2 at Shrewsbury Town this afternoon.

The U’s were 2-0 up at half-time at Greenhous Meadow and looked to be cruising towards a third successive away win.

But a double substitution and a change of formation from Shrewsbury at the break turned the contest around in dramatic fashion.

The Shrews’ half-time substitutes Tyrone Barnett and Sullay Kaikai both scored twice in the second half, to condemn the U’s to a second straight defeat in League One.

A good chance went begging for Colchester in the seventh minute when Marvin Sordell narrowly failed to connect with Gavin Massey’s fine low cross from three yards.

The U’s were the better side in the opening stages and had the ball in the net midway through the first half when Massey finished superbly from Sordell’s cross, only for the assistant referee to raise his flag for offside.

Colchester had another effort ruled out for offside a few minutes later when Sordell’s strike was disallowed and although James Collins fired a weak shot straight at U’s goalkeeper Jamie Jones ten minutes before the break, the U’s were the better side.

Colchester took the lead nine minutes before half-time when Shrewsbury defender Mark Ellis converted Massey’s low cross into his own net, with Sordell lurking.

And less than three minutes later the U’s doubled their lead through defender Tom Eastman, who cleverly back-heeled the ball into the net from close range after Frankie Kent had helped on Callum Harriott’s corner in the penalty area.

Colchester were the dominant force in the first half and Shrewsbury manager Micky Mellon knew he had to change things at the break, in order to try and get his side back into the contest.

He made a double substitution, bringing on Barnett and Kaikai but even the Shrews boss cannot have hoped his changes would have made such an immediate impact.

The second half was less than a minute old when Barnett rose at the far post to head home Larnell Cole’s deep cross and the home side were suddenly back in the match.

Colchester had a chance to score on the counter-attack when George Moncur skipped past two challenges and raced towards goal but was unable to find Sordell.

But Shrewsbury were back on level terms just before the hour when Barnett controlled Black’s pass in the area and poked the ball past the approaching Jones for his second of the game.

Colchester had a let-off just after the hour when Dom Smith’s header bounced off the top of the crossbar after Barnett had made a nuisance of himself in the area, while keeper Jamie Jones saved well from substitute Sullay Kaikai’s low effort soon after.

But the U’s fell behind for the first time in the match with 18 minutes remaining when the lively Kaikai latched onto Larnell Cole’s pass and went past Jones in the area before calmly slotting the ball into the empty net.

And with nine minutes to go, Kaikai fired clinically past Jones from close range for his second goal of the game to leave Colchester up against it.

Sordell went close for the U’s late on but they were unable to prevent a disappointing defeat.

For five pages of coverage of the U’s game at Shrewsbury, see Monday’s Daily Gazette.