Colchester United have beaten Leyton Orient 2-0 in this afternoon's League One relegation six-pointer at the Colchester Community Homes Stadium.

The hosts came close to scoring in the sixth minute when Sammie Szmodics's low cross was met by Chris Porter at the near post, but goalkeeper Gary Woods was able to make the save.

Just before the quarter-hour mark, however, the U's duly found themselves in the lead when a ball in from the right was knocked on by Porter, before Gavin Massey latched on and drilled home.

The visitors nearly equalised moments later when Chris Dagnall flicked an effort just over the Colchester bar, with some fans cheering as if it had gone in, so close was the margin.

Orient continued to threaten and saw Tommy Mooney collect a ball after it clipped Matthew Briggs's heel, but he fired his shot wide of goal.

However, Colchester went on to double their advantage just after the restart when Kaspars Gorkss glanced home a corner from the left.

Just moments later, Elliott Hewitt played in Porter, who bore down on goal and got the better of Woods, but was denied an open goal shot by the defence.

Midway through the second half, Orient had the ball in the back of the net when Gianvito Plasmati nodded home a Dean Cox cross, but the referee disallowed the goal for offside.

Orient found themselves on top in the latter stages of the game, but were unable to even net a consolation as the hosts secured all three points fairly comfortably.

The result means that Colchester leapfrog Orient into 21st place in the League One table, with the visitors slipping to 22nd.