A DAZZLING first-half display earned Colchester United their third victory in the last four games, at the expense of basement club QPR at Layer Road this afternoon.

A DAZZLING first-half display earned Colchester United their third victory in the last four games, at the expense of basement club QPR at Layer Road this afternoon.

First-half goals from Chris Iwelumo and Richard Garcia put the U's in command, although they were holding on at the end after Wayne Brown had headed into his own net on 76 minutes. Iwelumo rifled home the opener after only nine minutes, and Garcia then hit the target with a thumping volley to put Geraint Williams' men 2-0 up in the 18th minute.

The U's should really have been out of sight before the interval, such was their dominance. QPR were hardly at the races. But it was a much tighter second-half. Rangers were handed a lifeline when Brown headed Marc Nygaard's lob into his own net, and that set up a nervous finale.

However, the hosts stood firm to make further progress up the Championship table.