porter and briggs were handed their debuts on 24 january in a relegation battle with leyton orient, while tom lapslie was granted his first start and home debut. gavin massey opened the scoring on 14-minutes and kaspars gorkšs doubled the lead with his first goal for the club shortly after half-time. elliott hewitt was sent off for a professional foul with six minutes remaining but colchester held on for their third home win of the season.