Millwall 2 Colchester 1

Millwall's defence was tormented in the early stages by striker Kayode Odejayi, who had a couple of good chances in a lively first few minutes for the visitors. It was no surprise when Colchester took the lead, but the manner in which they did so owed quite a lot to good, old-fashioned luck.

Anthony Wordsworth attempted to curl in a free kick from the right on 18 minutes, only to see the ball thump against the Millwall wall. The ball took a bouncing ricochet and squeezed through a crowd beyond David Forde at the opposite post.

Chris Hackett made an audacious bid to grab an equaliser before half-time, cutting back before swinging a leg from outside the area. His drive beat the keeper, but skimmed wide of the post.

However, the U's defence finally crumbled on the hour mark, signalling the end of a long wait for Alan Dunne. The Lions man had not scored for close to two years, but emphatically opened his account for the season with a powerful drive beyond the keeper when the ball was headed out towards him from a free-kick clearance.

Dunne nearly got an assist as Millwall clawed for the win, but Neil Harris met his cut-back with a shot that nestled in the keeper's arms.

The match was to be decided by a tale of two free kicks in injury time. Anthony Wordsworth was again a danger from the dead ball, curling in a rasping long-range effort in injury time which had the crossbar juddering. But it was on-loan Reading man James Henry who was destined to be inked into the next morning's papers, whipping in a set-piece which slipped through the grasp of Colchester's Ben Williams.

Millwall: Forde, Dunne, Robinson, Craig, Smith, Schofield, Hackett (Henry 60), Laird, Abdou, Harris, Morison (Price 72)

Subs not used: Sullivan, Fitzsimons, Bolder, Martin, Grabban

Colchester: Williams, Okuonghae, Batth (Reid 84), Tierney, White, O'Toole, Payne (Izzet 60), Wordsworth, Platt (Gillespie 76), Odejayi, Lisbie

Subs not used: Cousins, Ifil, Fox, Elito

Attendance: 10,036