U21 Development League
Colchester United 4-2 Crystal Palace
AFTER thrashing Queens Park Rangers 7-2 the week before, Crystal Palace's U21 side were brought back down to Earth on Monday when they lost at Colchester United.
Gary Issott's youngsters found themselves 3-0 down at one point before Kyle de Silva pulled one back.
The Eagles got off to a slow start and nearly conceded to Dion Sembie-Ferris' shot, which hit the woodwork.
However, it didn't take long for the player to make up for it when he struck the opening goal, volleying home after Palace thought they had cleared their lines.
Shortly before the half-hour mark, Colchester doubled their lead when Anthony Jeffrey headed the ballot Jack Curtis to fire in.
On the stroke of half-time, the hosts made it number three. And it was through Sembie-Ferris again, this time with a lovely solo goal which started from his own half before finishing past Chris Kettings.
But Palace were given a lifeline moments later when de Silva got a goal back.
However, Colchester made the game safe just after 60 minutes when Macauley Bonne got on the scoresheet after good work from Curtis and Marley Andrews.
Hiram Boateng, who has featured for Palace's first team squad, pulled the Eagles back once again with a fine finish of his own.
He grabbed the ball through the middle, went past five Colchester players and found the bottom corner to the delight of his team-mates.
Palace U21s are next in action on Tuesday next week when they host Charlton Athletic (1pm KO).
