Colchester United 1-0 Preston North End

George Moncur scored his second goal in three matches

Preston missed out on automatic promotion after they suffered a narrow loss to Colchester, who clinched League One survival with their victory.

George Moncur slotted home from 12 yards after good work from Chris Porter, who had missed a penalty earlier in the half.

MK Dons' win over Yeovil means North End must settle for the play-offs, where they will face Chesterfield.

Preston have never gone up via the play-offs in nine previous attempts.

Simon Grayson's side had been in the top two since the start of March and had not lost in the league since 31 January.

But their 18-match unbeaten run in League One came to an end against a Colchester side that stayed up at the expense of Crawley, Notts County and Leyton Orient on the final day.

In a nervy first-half, both sides lacked an attacking edge and Preston centre-back Paul Huntington carved out the away side's best chance but failed to put enough power behind his header.

The hosts, knowing only a victory and other results going their way could help them stay in League One, were unlucky not to lead at the break as Jacob Murphy's attempted lob over keeper Sam Johnstone drifted wide.

However, 11 minutes into the second half, Colchester were gifted a lifeline as Johnstone brought down midfielder Moncur in the box, but Porter blazed his spot-kick over the bar.

Top scorer Joe Garner missed two great chances, first his header from Paul Gallagher's inch-perfect free-kick being deflected over before the 27-year-old nodded wide from just a couple of yards out.

And Preston were made to pay for their missed chances as Moncur and Porter combined to give Colchester the goal they required to secure their unlikely survival in the third tier for another season.

Colchester manager Tony Humes told BBC Essex:

"Credit to the players, they were brilliant against a really good team and it's just amazing. We just kept going and going, stuck to what we believed in and ultimately got the reward.

"I was surprised when the referee gave the penalty but the miss didn't prove important in the end. George Moncur has lots of quality and has that ability to stroke the ball into the net.

"We didn't get any notice of what was going on elsewhere until we scored and these players will only grow from this."

Jermaine Beckford celebrates after Colchester miss a penalty early in the second half...

...but it was the Colchester players who were celebrating survival at full-time

• Line-ups
• Match Stats
• Live Text

Line-ups

Colchester

• 1Walker
• 31Brindley
• 6Khumalo
• 18EastmanBooked at 75mins
• 15Briggs
• 38Fox
• 8GilbeySubstituted forSzmodicsat 80'minutes
• 21MasseySubstituted forWynterat 90+1'minutes
• 24Moncur
• 25MurphySubstituted forSembie-Ferrisat 81'minutes
• 42Porter

Substitutes

• 2Wynter
• 12Lewington
• 19Healey
• 27Bonne
• 28Szmodics
• 32Lapslie
• 37Sembie-Ferris

Preston

• 34JohnstoneBooked at 57mins
• 5Clarke
• 23Huntington
• 6WrightBooked at 50mins
• 3LairdSubstituted forDaviesat 86'minutes
• 7HumphreySubstituted forRobinsonat 58'minutes
• 24Johnson
• 19Welsh
• 12Gallagher
• 10BeckfordSubstituted forEbanks-Blakeat 89'minutes
• 14Garner

Substitutes

• 4Wiseman
• 8Kilkenny
• 9Davies
• 15Woods
• 21Stuckmann
• 27Robinson
• 40Ebanks-Blake

Referee:

Keith Stroud

Attendance:

8,413

Match Stats

Home TeamColchesterAway TeamPreston

Possession

Home48%

Away52%

Shots

Home8

Away14

Shots on Target

Home4

Away3

Corners

Home6

Away8

Fouls

Home9

Away8

Live Text

Posted at

Match ends, Colchester United 1, Preston North End 0.

Full Time

Posted at 90'+6'

Second Half ends, Colchester United 1, Preston North End 0.

Posted at 90'+2'

George Moncur (Colchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 90'+2'

Foul by John Welsh (Preston North End).

Substitution

Posted at 90'+1'

Substitution, Colchester United. Alex Wynter replaces Gavin Massey.

Posted at 89'

Attempt blocked. Dion Sembie-Ferris (Colchester United) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.

Substitution

Posted at 89'

Substitution, Preston North End. Sylvain Ebanks-Blake replaces Jermaine Beckford.

Posted at 87'

Corner, Colchester United. Conceded by Tom Clarke.

Posted at 87'

Corner, Colchester United. Conceded by Sam Johnstone.

Posted at 87'

Attempt saved. Sammie Szmodics (Colchester United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

Substitution

Posted at 86'

Substitution, Preston North End. Kevin Davies replaces Scott Laird.

Posted at 85'

Foul by Chris Porter (Colchester United).

Posted at 85'

John Welsh (Preston North End) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 84'

Corner, Preston North End. Conceded by Richard Brindley.

Posted at 84'

Foul by Tom Eastman (Colchester United).

Posted at 84'

Joe Garner (Preston North End) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Goal!

Posted at 82'

Goal! Colchester United 1, Preston North End 0. George Moncur (Colchester United) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Chris Porter.

Posted at 81'

Corner, Colchester United. Conceded by John Welsh.

Substitution

Posted at 81'

Substitution, Colchester United. Dion Sembie-Ferris replaces Jacob Murphy.

Substitution

Posted at 80'

Substitution, Colchester United. Sammie Szmodics replaces Alex Gilbey.

Posted at 78'

Attempt saved. Joe Garner (Preston North End) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.

Posted at 77'

Attempt missed. Joe Garner (Preston North End) header from the left side of the six yard box is close, but misses to the left.

Posted at 76'

Corner, Preston North End. Conceded by Richard Brindley.

Posted at 76'

Attempt blocked. Joe Garner (Preston North End) header from the centre of the box is blocked.

Booking

Posted at 75'

Tom Eastman (Colchester United) is shown the yellow card.

Posted at 75'

Hand ball by Tom Eastman (Colchester United).

Posted at 74'

Attempt missed. Callum Robinson (Preston North End) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.

Posted at 73'

Foul by Richard Brindley (Colchester United).

Posted at 73'

Joe Garner (Preston North End) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 73'

Attempt saved. George Moncur (Colchester United) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

Posted at 71'

Corner, Colchester United. Conceded by Sam Johnstone.

Posted at 65'

Attempt blocked. Paul Huntington (Preston North End) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.

Posted at 64'

Corner, Preston North End. Conceded by Bongani Khumalo.

Posted at 62'

Corner, Preston North End. Conceded by Tom Eastman.

Posted at 62'

Corner, Preston North End. Conceded by Jacob Murphy.

Posted at 61'

Corner, Preston North End. Conceded by Chris Porter.

Posted at 60'

Foul by Alex Gilbey (Colchester United).

Posted at 60'

Joe Garner (Preston North End) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 60'

Attempt blocked. Daniel Johnson (Preston North End) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.

Substitution

Posted at 58'

Substitution, Preston North End. Callum Robinson replaces Chris Humphrey.

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