Ten-man Morecambe produced a superb comeback to earn their first point of the season with an incident-packed draw against Colchester at the Mazuma Stadium.
The Shrimps, who saw manager Derek Adams and defender Luke Hendrie sent off in the first half, came from 3-1 down with seven minutes remaining to earn a share of the spoils after Colchester wasted a host of chances to win the game.
Morecambe took the lead as they scored their first league goal of the season in the 17th minute, Ben Tollitt receiving the ball on the left-hand side before curling an effort past Matt Macey from the edge of the box.
The hosts then saw manager Adams dismissed after receiving two yellow cards in quick succession and they were reduced to 10 men just before the break when right back Hendrie was booked for a second time after rashly fouling Owura Edwards.
Colchester took advantage immediately as the resulting free-kick was sent into the area and Edwards headed home from three yards out.
Danny Cowley’s side took the lead four minutes after the break when Samson Tovide was in the right place at the right time to sweep home the loose ball after Stuart Moore had saved smartly.
Morecambe hit back with Tollitt seeing a shot superbly blocked by Ben Goodliffe but the U’s added a third on 64 minutes when a cross came in from the left and Lyle Taylor steamed ahead of Adam Lewis to slot the ball home.
Harry Anderson produced a contender for miss of the season after Anthony Scully hit the crossbar and Morecambe made them pay.
Callum Jones pulled one back seven minutes from time from the penalty spot after Kayden Harrack was bundled over in the box by Alex Woodyard, and Marcus Dackers completed the comeback with an effort two minutes from time that took a wicked deflection to beat the stranded Macey.
Match report supplied by PA Media.
