A refereeing display which saw two players sent off and nine bookings overshadowed a good win for Colchester against old rivals Wycombe.

Colchester's Layer Road crowd probably thought they had witnessed all the drama they were ever likely to see in a thrilling performance 11 days ago - but they were wrong.

Trailing 3-1 against one of the division's form sides, Bristol Rovers, Steve McGavin's one-man supershow inspired the U's fightback of all time to record a 5-4 victory.

His breathtaking display in front of 4,400 startled spectators turned the former Wycombe midfielder into the stuff of legend.

Like all true professionals, he proved he could do it all over again.

Last week he took his sideshow north to inspire the U's to their third game unbeaten with a 2-1 win at play-off chasing Notts County.

But McGavin was eclipsed in his bid to take centre stage at Later Road this time.

Not content to let the football do the talking it was the turn of the referee, Royston's Keith Hill, to propel himself into the limelight against Lawrie Sanchez's Wycombe side.

Hill's memorable cabaret included a sprinkling of two-tone confetti - he handed out nine bookings and two sendings off - on a night when players risked yellow peril if they came within a five-yard radius of an opponent.

But the expectant crowd were left wondering if it had been worth the admission fee after the disappointing warm-up routine left them scratching their heads.

About the only thing the fans had to get agitated about in the opening spell was a McGavin header wide from five yards from a Karl Duguid cross.

But that was all before the intervention of the referee and by the time the final curtain came down, Royston Theatrical Society were reaching for the phone book.

It was the performance of Hill's life. From the 19th minute - when he issued his first yellow card to U's skipper David Gregory - the game was on a slippery slope towards farce.

By the half-time interval, he had cautioned three players and sent off Wycombe midfielder Michael Simpson for a second bookable offence.

But the act had barely begun. The farce really got into full swing when Steve Brown became the second Wycombe player to see red just in the 58th minute.

His foul on match-winner Lomana Tresor Lua Lua barely warranted another ear-piercing shrill of the referee's over-worked whistle.

Brown was already on the way to the stage door by the time the card was produced and Sanchez, who was manically jumping up and down on the touchline, looked every inch as though he was in on the charade.

It was almost unfortunate that wonder-boy Lua Lua should take the gloss off what was an otherwise momentous performance by the match official.

His goal, conjured out of nothing with a 20-yard strike nine minutes from time, nearly took the roof off the Bar Side when it hit the back of the net. Lua Lua nearly set up a second, but his centre was blasted wide of a gaping goal by Duguid.

There was one scare for the U's. Sean Devine netted for the nine men in the 64th minute, but had wandered just offside before his strike from 15 yards.

Ooh! Ah! Lua Lua - Lomana blasts a shot goal-wards against Wycombe last night.

Picture: STEVE BRADING

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