A late own goal from Magnus Okuonghae deprived Colchester United of all three points against Huddersfield Town this afternoon.
Okuonghae headed into his own net in the fourth minute of stoppage time to rescue the Terriers a point, at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.
Colchester took a third-minute lead when Gillespie closed down Huddersfield goalkeeper Alex Smithies' attempted clearance on the edge of the area and the ball looped into the empty net.
It was Gillespie's 12th goal of the season but Colchester struggled to maintain possession for the remainder of the first half, as the visitors responded well to going behind.
The U's worked hard though and restricted the Terriers to mainly long-range efforts before half-time.
The closest Huddersfield came to equalising before the break was when their prolific leading goalscorer Jordan Rhodes headed Jack Hunt's deep cross wide at the far post.
Colchester received a let-off on the hour mark when Danny Ward clattered the crossbar with a first-time effort from close range, following Joey Gudjonsson's deep cross to the far post.
But the U's almost doubled their lead seconds later when Smithies parried away Andrew Bond's fierce effort, following a swift breakaway move by the home side.
U's keeper Ben Williams saved well from Ward's long-range low strike but U's substitute Gavin Massey almost scored his first Colchester goal when he closed down Peter Clarke in the area and fired a weak shot straight at Smithies.
Kayode Odejayi almost clinched victory for the U's with seven minutes to go when he burst into the area but could only fire a weak effort straight at Smithies.
Colchester had a chance to wrap up the points in the final minute when Kem Izzet was fouled by Gudjonsson in the area.
Smithies saved Wordsworth's resultant spot-kick and Okuonghae headed into his own net deep into stoppage-time, to break U's hearts.
See Monday's Gazette for a full match report, pictures and reaction to Colchester United's game with Huddersfield Town.
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