Jack Payne bagged a first-half hat-trick as rampant Colchester swept aside Chesterfield with a 6-2 victory.
Colchester took a fifth-minute lead when Harry Anderson scored from two yards following Kyreece Lisbie’s low cross.
Payne made it 2-0 eight minutes later, sweeping in from close range after Anderson’s delivery.
Chesterfield netted in the 20th minute when Liam Mandeville converted, after Devan Tanton found him in the area, but Payne made it 3-1 in the 44th minute when he slid in to score from Lisbie’s cross.
Payne completed his hat-trick in the fifth minute of first-half stoppage-time from the spot after Teddy Bishop had been fouled in the box by Ryan Stirk.
Lisbie bagged Colchester’s fifth in the 68th minute when he finished from Micah Mbick’s superb pass.
James Berry pulled another goal back for Chesterfield with a curled effort from Zach Hemming’s clearance in the 81st minute but Anderson tapped home Colchester’s sixth in stoppage time, after Hemming had denied Samson Tovide, to seal the hosts’ win.
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