Colchester United beaten 2-0 at Exeter City

Goals from Stuart Fleetwood and Ryan Harley saw the U's fall to defeat at St James' Park, leaving them seven matches without a win in Coca-Cola League One.

Barry Corr's cross-shot flashed across goal for the Grecians after Marcus Stewart's pass had picked him out inside the area in the opening minutes.

But Colchester almost took the lead when Exeter goalkeeper Paul Jones made a fine save to deny David Prutton's header, before Richard Duffy denied Ian Henderson from converting the rebound.

Prutton came even closer to breaking the deadlock soon after when his free-kick hit the crossbar but at the other end, Magnus Okuonghae had to hook away from underneath his own crossbar after Steve Tully had crossed low and hard.

Exeter made a substitution just after the half hour mark when they sent on Stuart Fleetwood after Rob Edwards limped off with a hamstring injury.

And it changed the face of the game as five minutes later, Fleetwood wriggled past Magnus Okuonghae and latched onto Stewart's through ball before prodding the ball cleverly past goalkeeper Ben Williams from eight yards.

Exeter almost doubled their lead just before half-time when Ryan Harley's audacious free-kick clipped the crossbar.

Colchester struggled to create goalscoring opportunities in the second half, as they went in search of an equaliser.

The closest they came to scoring was when substitute Anthony Wordsworth hit the crossbar with a fine, 30-yard free-kick just before the hour mark, barely a minute after coming on as a substitute.

Jones made a fine diving save to deny Wordsworth's header in the closing stages but after Williams had saved well from substitute Richard Logan, Steven Gillespie handled Fleetwood's shot in the area to concede a penalty.

Harley scored from the spot to send the travelling Colchester fans heading for the exit, after a fourth successive away defeat.

For a full match report, pictures and reaction to Colchester United's game with Exeter City, see Monday's Gazette.