BOWERS & Pitsea put up a brave fight against League One giants Colchester United but were unable to cause an Essex Senior Cup shock after they lost 3-1 at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.

Rob Small's side went 3-0 down against the youthful U's, although they did come back into game and got a deserved goal thanks to Chris Bryan.

It took 18 minutes for the first goal to come. Dion Sembie-Ferris was allowed too much space and he buried a strike past Lewis Godwin-Green and into the corner.

The second came five minutes later, as Drey Wright got his first of the evening with a cool finish, after good wide play from Macauley Bonne.

Small may have been fearing a rout when Colchester were awarded a penalty shortly before the half hour mark, but Sembie-Ferris crashed an effort off the crossbar.

Bowers had chances of their own as a bundled effort was cleared from the Colchester goal-line, although the hosts did make sure of the result with a third on 62 minutes - Wright once again the scorer.

But there was a moment to cheer for the Essex Senior League team. With 20 minutes to play, Alfie Hilton sent a cross into the middle and Bryan rattled home to make it 3-1.