colchester were leapfrogged by relegation rivals crawley town on 14 march after suffering their twelfth home defeat of the campaign. sammie szmodics had given the u's the lead after 11-minutes, but former u's player ryan dickson equalised on 15-minutes. crawley took the lead before half-time, but david fox's first goal of his second spell with the club from a free kick levelled the score. former colchester loanee izale mcleod scored the winner for crawley from the penalty spot after being brought down by sam walker. the game featured newly-signed norwich city loanee jacob murphy, while south africa captain bongani khumalo signed from tottenham on loan until the end of the season but did not receive international clearance in time to face crawley. fellow spurs player kenny mcevoy returned to white hart lane after making just one substitute appearance for colchester.