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The visitors, who have now drawn six of their past eight games, took a 13th-minute lead when Harry Anderson picked up a pass on the right side of the box and rifled home a superb low shot across Christy Pym and inside the far post.

Stags almost levelled after 28 minutes when Stephen Quinn sent over a fine cross from the left, but top scorer Davis Keillor-Dunn sent his header wide from seven yards.

Just before the break, Will Swan raced onto a Lucas Akins lay-off and stabbed in a low finish that goalkeeper Owen Goodman managed to block.

Goodman then produced a world class save after 62 minutes as he somehow kept out Baily Cargill’s close-range header from Quinn’s cross.

But from the corner, the hosts were level as, amid a scramble, Lewis Brunt poked home from almost on the goal line.

Goodman was there again to tip over a Swan header after 76 minutes, while seven minutes from time a Colchester break saw Pym stretch to turn a low Samson Tovide shot against a post.