The season ended for Colchester United at Glanford Park with a draw against Scunthorpe in an entertaining match for both sets of supporters.

The day reflected the season as bad luck with injuries, with Chris Coyne pulling up in the warm up, and failure to hold onto a lead costing the U's. .

The U's failed to hold onto a two goal lead once again as Scunthorpe scored twice in the last quarter of the game at Glanford Park.

It was a clash between two teams who had already been relegated but they produced an entertaining game for their respective supporters.

The first half saw Kevin McLeod glance his near post header home to give the U's a tenth minute lead. It only lasted four minutes before Jonathan Forte equalised when he deflected a Matt Sparrow cross shot past the dive of Dean Gerken.

Goals from Scott Vernon and Kevin McLeod in the first three minutes of the second half gave the U's a 3-1 lead but Hayes struck to give Scunthorpe hope. It wasn't to be the U's day as Hayes scored again to deny the U's a final day victory.

The U's boss Geraint Williams initially made three changes to his starting eleven, with Kem Izzet, Kevin McLeod and Matt Heath coming in for the final game.

Bela Balogh, Dean Hammond and Medy Elito were the players replaced as Williams looked to finish the season with a win.

But a warm up injury to Chris Coyne led to Balogh regaining a place in the back four, with young James Hammond coming onto the bench just after gaining a professional contract at the end of his two year youth stint.

While ten Championship matches on Sunday afternoon had something riding on the result, the one at Glanford Park could change nothing in the table. Colchester United were unable to climb off the bottom and Scunthorpe find themselves stuck in twenty third place regardless of the result.

It was home team who put the early pressure on but Gerken and Balogh were up to the task of defending efforts from Paul Hayes. Butler then shot over the bar from close range after Hayes flicked on a near post corner.

The U's came into the game though and had their first shot on nine minutes, when Kem Izzet's effort was saved at the second attempt by Joe Murphy in the home goal. Murphy could do nothing a minute later as the U's took the lead.

Two Scunthorpe players dallied on the ball and Kevin Lisbie won possession and raced to keep the ball in play before it ran out for a goal kick.

He looked up to see Kevin McLeod arrow his run into the near post and picked his teammate out with a great cross. McLeod's glancing header was equally as good as the cross and found its way into the back of the net to give the U's the lead.

It could have been 2-0 seconds later but Scott Vernon and Karl Duguid both had efforts cleared off the line after more good work from Lisbie.

The U's were left to rue not increasing their lead when the home side equalised on fourteen minutes. Ben May found Sparrow on the right and his cross shot whistled into the box. Jonathon Forte was first to react and slid in to deflect the ball past Gerken to make it 1-1.

After quite a frenetic start, the game settled down and both teams had some possession in the middle third of the pitch without hurting the opposition.

Lisbie was causing problems, especially for right back Byrne but the U's couldn't create any more clear cut chances until Izzet mis kicked from fifteen yards out on the half hour mark.

With four minutes to go, Forte had the last chance of the half but shot wide after a good phase of play down the Scunthorpe right.

Both managers would have been reasonably satisfied but would have been asking their players for a bit more quality in and around the penalty area.

And the U's certainly gave Williams that quality from the off in the second half, with goals from Scott Vernon and Kevin McLeod after two and three minutes of the half. Both were of the highest order and they gave the U's a two goal cushion.

A Jackson free kick was flicked on to the far post and Vernon acrobatically scored with an overhead kick that flew into the top corner.

The same top corner was found less than a minute later as McLeod clipped a lovely half volley over the home keeper.

There was a scare in the U's box as Gerken failed to claim the ball and May found Forte, who sliced his shot when well placed. May himself then had the next shot, on sixty five minutes, but it whistled just wide.

Less than two minutes later though, May's strike partner, Paul Hayes pulled a goal back to give Scunthorpe some hope. A ball into the box wasn't cleared and Hayes turned sharply to drill his shot into the bottom corner, giving Gerken no chance.

The tempo of the game dipped for a few minutes after Hayes made it 3-2 but then both sides had chances to score, with Butler for Scunthorpe and Elito for the U's missing the target when well placed.

With less than ten minutes to go, the scores were level as Hayes scored his second but it was down to a defensive error from Matt Heath. His poor header back to Gerken was short and Hayes tapped in after rounding the U's keeper.

The U's had a couple of late chances but Jackson and Platt were both thwarted and the final whistle went with both sets of fans applauding their teams off. They will meet each other again next season but it will be in League One and not the Championship.

The U's two season foray into the second tier of English football is over but everyone at the club will be hoping for a swift return in their new Community Stadium.

U's: Gerken, Ifil (Elito), Heath, Balogh, White, Duguid, Izzet, Jackson, McLeod, Lisbie, Vernon (Platt).