A young Colchester United development squad travelled to Birmingham's St Andrew's Trillion Trophy on Saturday, as their season continues apace.
The home side opened the scoring after 35 minutes through Kyle McFarlane and it was to be a productive afternoon for the Blues striker.
He added a second and third for the home side either side of the hour mark, completing a hat-trick to take the game further away from the U's.
With fifteen minutes left, three became four, as Olly McCoy added to the scoreline.
However, the U's did not give up and added two goals late on in the game.
First up, Chris Forino headed home a Noah Chilvers corner with five minutes to go, before George Brown picked himself up after a foul to slot home the penalty.
Next up for the U's is a home match against Sheffield United at Florence Park on September 3rd.
U's: Vose, James, Rooney, Agboola, Clampin, Brown, Warde, Chilvers, Sims, Issa, Hassanally
Subs: Coulter, Forino, Cornish, Anderson