COLCHESTER United let victory slip through their fingers in a seven-goal thriller at The Hawthorns this afternoon.The U's were nursing a 3-2 lead until the 90th minute, but they then leaked two late goals as the Baggies completed a dramatic comeback.

Carl Marston

West Brom 4 Colchester United 3

COLCHESTER United let victory slip through their fingers in a seven-goal thriller at The Hawthorns this afternoon.

The U's were nursing a 3-2 lead until the 90th minute, but they then leaked two late goals as the Baggies completed a dramatic comeback.

James Morrison hammered home a 90th minute equaliser, and striker Roman Bednar grabbed the winner for play-off chasing West Brom in the third minute of injury-time, by heading home Paul Robinson's cross.

It was cruel luck on the U's, who had earlier stunned The Hawthorns crowd by scoring twice in a two-minute spell, with their first two efforts on target.

Chris Coyne broke the deadlock in the 14th minute, finding the net with an overhead kick after keeper Dean Kiely had failed to deal with Dean Hammond's free-kick.

And Medy Elito then scored a wonder goal to double the U's lead on 16 minutes. Again Kiely mis-timed a punch, from Kevin Lisbie's cross, and Elito smashed the loose ball into the net from inside the penalty area.

The Baggies came storming back and could even have been ahead by the interval. Kevin Phillips notched up his 20th league goal of the season to halve the deficit in the 36th minute, and the Midlanders were level just three minutes later through Chris Brunt's stunning 20-yarder.

Dean Gerken pulled off a number of good saves, both before and after the break, and West Brom also struck the woodwork twice.

It seemed that they would be left to rue these missed chances when Lisbie popped up with what looked like being the winning goal in the 75th minute.

But West Brom were not to be denied, and their two late goals broke the hearts of the basement dwellers. The U's could now be officially relegated by as early as next weekend, when Ipswich are the visitors.