As expected, former strikers made the headlines as the U's shared the spoils with Saturday.

The U's had roared into a 2-0 first half lead with former Charlton man Kevin Lisbie grabbing his third goal in three games to put the home team in a strong position.

The visitors pulled one back just before the break as ex-U's forward Chris Iwelumo set up Svetoslav Todorov to give the Addicks hope.

Big Scot Iwelumo, hero for two years during his stay at Layer Road, turned to zero with the U's supporters in the early part of the second half as he went down on his path to goal in a second half incident, earning Matt Connolly a contentious red card.

With a man advantage, Zheng Zhi grabbed an equaliser, but the U's kept on plugging away and probably had the better of the chances as the game came to a close.

It will have been the red card that would be the hot topic of conversation though as the U's continue to search for their first home win of the season.

The U's made just the one change to their starting eleven, with Kevin McLeod coming into the team in place of John White. Clive Platt and Jamie Guy came onto the bench, with White missing out completely, alongside Danny Granville.

The home team started on the front foot, but had to track back quickly when Thomas burst away down the Charlton left, only to fire in a shot that Gerken fielded comfortably at ground level.

But it was a bright start overall from the home team as they looked to shake off the disappointment of the defeat at the end of August to Burnley.

Whilst the early territorial advantage belonged to the U's, they were yet to test Weaver in the opening quarter of an hour, although the keeper watched on with relief as Fortune cleared for a corner from a dangerous cross from Yeates with Lisbie lingering.

The visitors first sight of goal did not arrive until eighteen minutes into the game when, after a questionable foul was given against Connolly on the edge of the box, Ambrose curled over a free kick that clipped the top of the net.

They really should have taken the lead on 21 minutes, though, as Ambrose exchanged passes with Todorov on the edge of the box and squared to Iwelumo.

The former U's man looked certain to score from just six yards out, but Duguid somehow managed to throw his body in front of the ball on the line to preserve the status quo.

The U's skipper was in fine form in the early stages as he had a running battle with Thomas down the flank.

It was Duguid's partner down the right though who opened the scoring for the U's on 32 minutes.

Yeates had originally lost the ball in the tackle to Powell, but retrieved it and laid it off to Sheringham. Continuing his run into the box, the Irishman retrieved the return ball with the outstep of his left boot, before setting himself and firing home past the helpless Weaver.

And the Addicks keeper could do nothing when the U's extended their advantage seven minutes later.

Yeates was again in the thick of the action, winning a corner with a direct run at Powell and from the set piece, Lisbie rose highest to power home a header for his third in three games.

He clearly relished the goal and ran over to the dugouts to embrace manager Geraint Williams, the boss who picked him up after his release from Charlton. The rest of the team ran over to join in the celebrations as Layer Road rocked once again.

The visitors were clearly rattled at this point and manager Pardew would have wanted to get his side back in the dressing room to regroup.

However, they gave themselves a lifeline just before the interval as Iwelumo combined with Todorov for the Bulgarian to slot a shot underneath Gerken.

The visitors made a change at the break to try and further force their way back into the match, with the ineffectual Thomas making way for Reid, back from international duty with Ireland.

Early in the second half, the midfielder was seeing plenty of the ball and the U's needed to continue their first half philosophy of closing down the ball on all occasions.

The U's were doing alright themselves going forward and one clever ball from McLeod almost put in Jackson around the back.

Straight down the other end and Gerken had another nervous moment after his red against Barnsley. Indecision by Baldwin let in Iwelumo and as he got past Gerken, the keeper just gave him a little tug to bring him down.

There were covering defenders on this occasion though, and quite rightly the referee gave a yellow card to the Colchester keeper.

The visitors were starting to turn the screw though, with Reid pulling the strings but the game burst into life ten minutes after the restart.

The ball was played through to Iwelumo through the centre of the park and he began to escape the attentions of Connolly and had a chase on for the ball.

With a path to goal then opening up in front of him he then went to ground with - from the Main Stand view of the incident at least - apparently little or no contact and the pre-match warm applause turned to venom for the Scottish striker as Connolly saw red after the linesman flagged.

The U's made an immediate change to shore up affairs, with goalscorer Yeates making way - to a standing ovation - with Adam Virgo coming on, this time as a centre half.

The home team nearly extended their lead before the defender had got a touch. A clever one two at close range between Sheringham and Lisbie saw the latter fire in a volley that Weaver tipped over the crossbar.

But it was going to be a long final half hour of the game as the U's protected their lead against a side with a man advantage.

They were having the occasional forays forward and Duguid should have done better midway through the second half, when he miscued a shot from the edge of the box after a well crafted move.

Iwelumo, now the subject of the U's fans ire was replaced by another summer addition as Varney made his debut in Charlton colours.

And, five minutes later, there was a whole new strikeforce for the visitors as they went for pace up top with Sam replacing Todorov.

And Charlton drew level straight after that change. Zheng had pushed forward as part of the reshuffle and he made no mistake after Varney provided the knock down.

The second goal woke up the previously quiet visiting supporters, who were no doubt thinking that their team could repeat the victory over Sheffield Wednesday,

The U's made their second change of the game immediately after the equaliser with Platt coming on for Sheringham.

Colchester continued to seek a way back in front, and Elokobi drove wide before Lisbie's stinging shot from distance forced Weaver into a fine stop.

Platt joined the others in the referee's book for a seemingly innocuous challenge as the official continued to bemuse and frustrate the home supporters.

The U's number nine did much better as injury time began, though, laying it off to Izzet who pulled his shot only just wide of the far post.

But try as the U's might as they finished the stronger, they could not find a path to goal for the match winning third.

Att: 5,860 (Sold: 6,269)