Colchester United U23s were defeated in their latest league outing, as Sheffield United ran out winners at Florence Park on Monday afternoon.
The Blades took the lead after just eleven minutes, as wing back Keenan Ferguson broke through the U's offside trap and squared the ball for Oliver Greaves to open the scoring.
They could have extended their advantage before half time when Reece York was brought down, but Ethan Ross saved Jordan Hallam's penalty.
It remained 1-0 at the break, but Hallam did get on the scoresheet just before the hour mark.
Jordan Doherty was the provider, and Hallam was on hand to rifle home past Ross.
And, with ten minutes to go, the game was taken further away from the U's, with Doherty's long range shot taking a deflection to beat Ross.
U's: Ross, Kazeem, Cracknell, Warde, Forino, Sims (Cornish), Anderson (Krasniqi), Chilvers, Hasanally, Charles, Jones (Mudd)
Unused subs: Coulter, Michaels