George Moncur bagged a late winner to send Colchester United through to the FA Cup third round following a dramatic 1-0 win over League One rivals Peterborough United.

Moncur struck in the closing stages of the tie, minutes after U's goalkeeper Sam Walker had brilliantly denied Aaron McLean from the spot.

It saw Colchester go through to the third round of the FA Cup and into tomorrow night's draw.

There was little in the way of goalmouth activity early on and the tie’s first meaningful effort on goal came after 20 minutes, when Posh striker Aaron McLean out-witted Tom Eastman in the area but fired straight at U’s goalkeeper Sam Walker when he should have scored.

Colchester went close themselves five minutes later.

George Moncur found himself with time and space on the edge of the area and the midfielder’s well-placed side-footed effort was heading towards the bottom corner until goalkeeper Ben Alnwick reaches out a hand to push it away.

Eastman could only direct a shot over from a cross by left-back Cole Kpekawa, who enjoyed plenty of possession in the final third and gave Peterborough right-back Michael Bostwick plenty to think about in a hard-fought but goal-less first half.

Peterborough almost went ahead in the opening three minutes of the second half when Eastman’s mistake let in McLean in the area.

But the U’s defender recovered well, combining with Kaspars Gorkss to block McLean’s goalbound effort.

Elliott Hewitt's hopeful shot from the edge of the area flew straight into Alnwick's arms and the U's sent on Rhys Healey for Gavin Massey in the final stages, in a bid to force a winner.

Walker pushed away Jermaine Anderson's shot with five minutes to go and then Walker made a superb save to deny McLean, after Watt had fouled Bostwick in the area.

Peterborough then hit the bar from a corner but the U's bagged their winner seconds later through Moncur to spark memorable scenes at the Community Stadium.

For full coverage of the U's FA Cup win over Peterborough United, see Monday's Daily Gazette.