Two late goals in the space of five minutes saw Colchester United snatch defeat from the jaws of victory to lose 2-1 Yeovil Town this afternoon and drop into the League Two relegation zone.

The U's looked like they were heading for a precious victory after going ahead through Kurtis Guthrie, early in the second half.

But Yeovil substitutes Francois Zoko and Tahvon Campbell both struck in the closing stages to secure the home side victory and extend Colchester's winless league run to ten matches.

Colchester head coach John McGreal made three changes to his starting line-up for their game at Yeovil Town, following the 3-0 home defeat against Leyton Orient.

Kane Vincent-Young returned from injury to start at left-back, while Craig Slater came back into central midfield and Denny Johnstone also featured in attack.

Frankie Kent, Glen Kamara and Macauley Bonne all dropped to the bench, while Sammie Szmodics missed out due to injury.

Yeovil registered the first meaningful effort on goal when Otis Khan ran at the U’s defence before firing in a long-range effort that goalkeeper Sam Walker plucked out of the air.

Matthew Dolan's 25-yard free-kick drops wide of the near post before Thomas Eaves stabed wide from seven yards after Tom Eastman had headed inadvertently into his path.

Walker then Khan from close range before Yeovil squandered the best chance of the first half when Eaves fired over from two yards after Liam Shephard had delivered a low cross from the right.

Yeovil carved out another good opportunity five minutes before half-time when Ryan Hedges was released through on goal by Eaves’ fine play but Walker does enough to put him off in the area and avert the danger.

Colchester were rarely seen as an attacking force in the first half and their best effort was arguably when Brennan Dickenson’s looping header was plucked out of the air by Glovers keeper Artur Krysiak from under his own crossbar.

After a goal-less first half, Colchester came out positively for the second half.

Brennan Dickenson’s first-time effort sailed well wide after Vincent-Young had escaped down the right, a minute after the break.

And the U's were ahead five minutes after the interval when Kurtis Guthrie nodded home from inside the six-yard box after Johnstone's effort had come back off the bar, following Krysiak's failure to deal with Brennan Dickenson's cross.

Colchester worked extremely hard to preserve their lead after that, closing down at every opportunity and showing plenty of commitment to the cause.

With nine minutes remaining, Yeovil skipper Darren Ward's header from six yards from Hedges' free-kick sailed over the bar when he should have hit the target.

Walker made a fine save at his near post to deny Hedges but seconds later, he could not keep out Zoko's fierce shot from a tight angle for Yeovil's 85th-minute equaliser.

And five minutes later, Campbell found space in the U's area to plant a low shot under Walker and in to ensure Colchester's long run without a win continued.