Colchester United beat Maldon and Tiptree in pre-season friendly

Chay Cooper's solo effort and a Joe Turpin own goal give the U's a two-goal cushion at the break, at Park Drive.

And Tom Dallison and Samson Tovide added further goals in the final minutes, to put the seal on Colchester's win.

Colchester boss Ben Garner fielded different sides in each half, as his team got their first game minutes under their belt ahead of the new League Two season.

Maldon and Tiptree, sporting an old U’s home kit after problems with the arrival of their new strip, started brightly, despite only having been back for pre-season for four days.

However, Colchester, who lined up in a 3-5-2 formation, tested the Maldon keeper for the first time in the match in the 12th minute.

Alex Newby, playing as a right wing-back, tried his luck with a fierce shot that was parried away by the Maldon keeper.

And Colchester took the lead, seven minutes later.

Joe Turpin could only turn the ball into his own net from close range, after John Akinde had delivered a dangerous cross into the six-yard box in the direction of former Colchester loanee, Bradley Ihionvien.

Colchester began to ease into the contest more after that and almost doubled their lead just after the half hour mark through Ihionvien, who headed a good chance over unmarked from close range from Newby’s excellent delivery.

But Maldon were a competitive force and the hosts came very close to equalising, ten minutes before the break.

Some great work down the left flank resulted in Louie Remi volleying over from a good position in the area.

However, Colchester doubled their lead, just before the break.

Chay Cooper showed great footwork to evade a couple of challenges before entering the box and calmly slotting a low shot past the Maldon keeper.

The U’s went in at the interval ahead and made 11 changes for the second half, with new signings Ellis Iandolo and Nico Lawrence given some game time and Connor Hall skippering the side.

The second half was only a few minutes old when the rain came, making for a slick surface for the players.

Colchester almost made it 3-0 just after the break when Matt Jay's goalbound effort was blocked on the line by a defender, after Jayden Fevrier had picked him out in the area.

And the U's went close again when Junior Tchamadeu was denied at the near post by the Maldon keeper, after Iandolo had set him up in the area.

Jay's fierce shot was deflected over for a corner after good work by Samson Tovide in the area but Maldon missed a great chance to reduce the deficit midway through the second half when goalkeeper Ted Collins was out quickly to deny their striker, after a stray pass had presented the chance.

Maldon continued to make it a competitive contest for the U's, who were given a decent workout by their hosts.

But Dallison added a third when he slammed home from close range after Iandolo's corner had evaded the attention of the home defence, seconds after the Maldon keeper had denied Iandolo.

And a minute later, Tovide slammed home a shot from close range, to wrap up the U's win.

COLCHESTER UNITED (first half): Hornby, Greenidge, Kelleher, Terry, Miranda, Chilvers, Newby, Kazeem, Cooper, Akinde, Ihionvien.

Second half: Collins, Hall, Tchamadeu, Dallison, Iandolo, Lawrence, Kennedy, Fevrier, Jay, Tovide, Hopper.