Colchester United proved there is some justice in football when they won this vital rearranged second division game.

For the U's were leading 3-1 when the original match last October was abandoned at half-time by Woking referee Lee Cable - the same referee for this latest match - because of a waterlogged pitch.

By the same token, if there is justice in football, AFC Bournemouth are surely heading for the first division via the promotion play-offs because they without doubt are one of the finest all-round teams seen at Layer Road this season.

Mel Machin's talented south coast promotion chasers ran an under the cosh U's ragged for large periods of last night's Layer Road clash.

And it was only a string of super saves by keeper Tamer Fernandes and some resilient defending by his team-mates that earned the U's three life-saving points to ease their relegation worries.

Yet for all the good things that went on through the night all three goals had a big defensive question mark beside them and Fernandes and his opposite number Mark Ovendale were heavily involved in all of them.

The game was only 11 minutes old when Fernandes sent a long punt upfield into the Cherries' penalty area.

The kick looked harmless enough, but as Ovendale rushed off his line central defender James Hayter leapt to send a header over his unfortunate team-mate into his own net to put the U's 1-0 up.

Another 23 minutes passed when the bizarre became the ridiculous as Bournemouth were gifted an equaliser to end a barron spell of six hours and 16 minutes without a scoring a goal.

Colchester were under enormous pressure from a sequence of five successive corners and they finally cracked on the last of them when £50,000 transfer deadline day signing from Arsenal, William Huck, drilled a low flag-kick into the U's six-yard box.

The home defence failed to cut it and Fernandes - who saw it very late - could only push the ball against team-mate David Greene who agonisingly watched it rebound into his own net.

If the outfield play was exciting the first two goals were certainly messy and the all-important U's 67th minute winner was another disaster for poor Ovendale.

He rushed off his line into no-man's land in a bid to cut out a raking cross from Karl Duguid only to miss the ball altogether leaving Jason Dozzell, just beyond the far post, to direct a header into the empty net.

David Gregory and Duguid were preferred to Paul Abrahams and Neil Gregory in a U's side seeking it's fourth successive home win and the signs looked good again when Hayter's own goal gifted the home side the lead.

But the rest of the first half belonged to Bournemouth and the U's were forced to defend grimly heading into half-time.

The ever-dangerous Mark Stein, Huck and impressive skipper Ian Cox - targetted by Scottish Premier Division club Aberdeen - were constantly in the thick of the action as the visitors poured forward.

Only a great last ditch tackle by U's skipper Greene prevented Stein from scoring on 15 minutes in a goalmouth melee following a dangerous free-kick give away by Paul Buckle.

Moments later Huck cruelly exposed Fabrice Richard on the left flank only to drag his shot wide with just Fernandes to beat.

Dozzell had a shot blocked at the opposite end in a rare U's attack, but normal service was immediately resumed, and only a goal-line clearance by home skipper Richard Wilkins kept out a Stein header on ther half-hour, while Fernandes, going the wrong way, blocked a goalbound Eddie Howe header with his legs.

Bournemouth's pressure finally told as the U's caved in and conceded Green's own goal and, as the first half moved into injury-time, Fernandes acrobatically palmed away a dangerous cross-shot from Hayter.

It was the U's who showed first after the break with a powerful header from Greene that went wide, but there was almost a third bizarre own goal when U's defender Simon Betts sent a back pass just wide as Fernandes rushed off his line.

The quick and slick Bournemouth side continued to rule the roost and Stein twice eluded the U's offside trap and went close to scoring inside the hour.

Fernandes pulled out another fantastic save to thwart Huck's 25-yard volley, but the U's hit back with a vengeance and Cox was on hand to clear a header off the line.

He was nowhere to be found when Dozzell headed what proved to be the U's winner and Fernandes was soon in action again with a great save to block Stein's point-blank header ten minutes from the end.

There were even more let-offs for the U's six minutes from full when Howe had a headed goal ruled out for a foul on Stephane Pounewatchy under the crossbar and Cox hit a post with another effort.

Substitute Tony Lock, making his first appearance since early January, perked things up a bit for the U's.

But only a tremendous save by Ovendale prevented Warren Aspinall from settling the issue in the 89th minute after seizing on an attempted clearance Howe.

Colchester's Warren Aspinall attempts to break clear from midfield.

Pictures: STEVE BRADING

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.