Colchester United have beaten Cambridge United 1-0 to fire themselves closer to the play-off spots.

Looking to close the gap to the top seven, the U's did exactly that with victory in Cambridgeshire.

It came in the final minute of six added at the end, with Kane Vincent-Young hitting his effort in off the crossbar.

In the opening minutes, both sides seemed wary of losing possession and made sure they helped the ball on as soon as any pressure came about.

Jevani Brown hit a speculative lob goalwards from distance, but it never looked like being on target.

Sammie Szmodics then shot wide, but was falling as he hit it and Mitov wasn’t troubled.

Once the game settled a bit, it was Colchester United who began to push forward, and opened up the defence on twenty minutes.

A ball forward was drilled into Luke Norris and his perfect flick found Abs Eisa in on goal in the left channel – unfortunately, he didn’t make great contact and the shot went wide.

A minute later, an equally good chance fell to Szmodics but his diving header also went wide of the target.

The U’s continued to ask more questions, and on thirty three minutes, they could and maybe should have gone ahead.

An Eisa free kick came in from the right, Frankie Kent’s downward header was well saved by the legs of Mitov, and Norris couldn’t keep the rebound down from the edge of the six yard box.

Courtney Senior was next to try his luck, but after twisting and turning on the edge, his shot was deflected wide for a corner.

From that set piece, Norris controlled well on the far post, but his effort was blocked before it caused any trouble.

That was the final chance of the first half, a half that the U’s dominated but couldn’t breach the home defence.

At the start of the second period, it was the U’s who continued to have the better of things, but any chances that came their way weren’t as clear cut as in the first forty five minutes.

Norris hit his free-kick into the wall, and Ben Stevenson’s header was comfortably taken by Mitov above his head.

A couple of chances did come at the other end, but Brown shot well wide and Barnes didn’t have to move to save a weak Ibehre header.

Halfway through the half, Norris had his second decent chance but shot just over the crossbar after being found by a Szmodics’ pullback.

Between seventy seven and eighty four minutes, McGreal made all three substitutions, hoping that the fresh legs of Dickenson, Mandron and Saunders would do the trick.

In the second of six minutes of added time, Szmodics had a shot that rolled agonisingly wide of the post, and many fans might have thought that was the last chance.

The U’s players had no such thought though, and Stevenson’s cross field ball set them on the attack in the ninety sixth minute.

The ball was subsequently put into Mandron’s feet and he held off defenders before finding Vincent-Young just outside the box.

Having scored a few stunning goals already, the young full back decided a first time effort was needed – and it flew into the top corner, flicking off the underside of the bar on its way in.

The 1000 plus U’s fans behind the goal went wild, and that continued seconds later when the final whistle went and the U’s had closed the gap to the top seven to one point again.