When AFC Bournemouth's Warren Cummings' strike took a wicked deflection off Colchester United defender Pat Baldwin's shoulder to give the visitors the lead, you could not help but think that the U's were not getting the rub of the green.

Joy - Gavin Johnson (right) celebrates scoring the U's equaliser with Bat Baldwin and Greg Halford. 41045-11

The last home match to Blackpool saw them hit with a sucker-punch 1-0 defeat, despite having created plenty of chances, and with the amount of efforts that have gone just wide of the mark in other games at Layer Road you begin to wonder if there is a hoodoo on the club's ground.

However, Gavin Johnson, Guylian Ndumbu-Nsungu and Neil Danns showed the home fans that was not the case as Phil Parkinson's charges responded in the same positive manner that made them shine in their 1-1 draw at Tranmere Rovers last Saturday.

All three goals stood out. Johnson's was a planned piece, Ndumbu-Nsungu's was a classic poached effort while Danns' was a top-drawer solo effort.

The result sends the U's up to 15th in the table as they bid to pull away from the relegation battle.

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Published Wednesday, February 16, 2005

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