Colchester 3 Cheltenham Town 1: Everybody associated with Cheltenham Town knows all about the threat that Colchester United striker Steven Gillespie can pose, so to see him cutting a frustrated figure on the bench against his former club came as somewhat of a relief to the travelling contingent.

That relief lasted less than an hour, however, as Gillespie, who swapped Whaddon Road for Essex in a £400,000 move last summer, emerged from the sidelines to play a pivotal role in overturning a one-goal lead, sending his former club home empty-handed.

Cheltenham had taken the lead through a debut goal from the impressive Chris Westwood when Gillespie entered the fray in the 58th minute to 'change the game', as Robins' manager Martin Allen put it.

Within five minutes Colchester were level; skipper Dean Hammond nodding in a wicked set-piece delivery from wideman Mark Yeates at the far post before Gillespie put his new side firmly in the driving seat by guiding another dangerous cross into the corner with a powerful header.

Gillespie wheeled away in delight before recognising the despair of his former pals and respectfully refusing to over celebrate putting his side in front.

"I was disappointed not to start the game," Gillespie admitted. "You always want to do well against your old club so you don't want to be sitting on the bench.

"To come on and score is probably the second best thing that could have happened. I am always delighted to score and it was a big goal for me.

"I didn't want to go over the top with the celebration because I didn't want to aggravate any of the Cheltenham fans. I had some really good times at Whaddon Road and still have some great friends at the club. I had just missed a good chance before the goal, so I was relieved to make up for that more than anything."

That chance came about minutes earlier from another penetrative cross to the back post, but goalkeeper Scott Brown was equal to Gillespie's weak header prompting Colchester boss Paul Lambert to lash out in anger at a row of water bottles.

It was one of a number of excellent saves that Brown pulled off to keep the U's at bay for long periods of the match and Gillespie added: "I was disappointed not to put that chance away, but it was still a great save by Scotty.

"He is a really good shot shopper and I know that he can do that regularly because he used to stop ones destined for the top corner every day in training."

Brown's busy afternoon started early with a fine first-half stop to deny Yeates a certain goal from distance, but was still grateful to debutant Westwood for two goal-line interventions that helped keep his sheet clean going in at the interval.

Westwood's impressive first outing continued after the break when he stooped to power home an Ian Westlake corner to give Cheltenham an unlikely lead on 57 minutes.

"I don't think Cheltenham could have wanted it to go any better at that point," said Gillespie. "I was in that team last year and there were many times we would go to away grounds and get men behind the ball in the hope of nicking a goal and winning the game."

Over-celebration, or lack of, it seems, was the order of the day as Cheltenham boss Martin Allen managed to keep his delight visibly under control by simply turning and walking back to his seat among the substitutes as his players enjoyed the successful outcome of their well-worked set-piece routine.

Perhaps, Allen knew the game was far from over, even if he felt afterwards that Westwood's opening gambit should have been enough to see his side earn what would have been a welcome three points.

Hammond's equaliser came five minutes later and before skipper John Finnigan was sent for an early bath by picking up two yellow cards for rash challenges to limit his contribution to just six minutes after coming on as a substitute for Lewis Montrose.

"At 1-0 up I thought we could go on to win it," said Allen. "What happened with John Finnigan was two moments of madness and it was disappointing to see him sent off.

"He is unhappy with himself and has apologised to everybody in the dressing room. We win as a group and we lose as a group so there is no single blame on John Finnigan or anyone else because we have all played a part in the defeat."

It left a numerically disadvantaged Cheltenham side with the monumental task of to keeping out a reinvigorated Colchester for the best part of twenty minutes. It was no surprise when Gillespie edged the U's in front before Yeates added a third to cap a man-of-the-match display two minutes from time and give the scoreline a more comfortable look about it.

Allen refused to berate his team afterwards and was more interested in listing the positives, which included a promising debut from young Reading striker Nicholas Bignall, 18, who showed glimpses of pace, enthusiasm and power to suggest that he may provide a useful contribution in the coming weeks.

"I was very disappointed a couple of months ago when we lost at Hereford but I wouldn't put this performance in that category," said Allen.

"Even with 10 men we played three up front to try and get something back. It was a disappointing way to end the game but overall our team gave everything they've got."

Colchester United (4-4-2): Walker; Maybury, Reid, Baldwin, Jackson (White 25); Izzet, Hammond, Perkins (Gobern 66), Yeates; Vernon (Gillespie 58), Platt. Subs: Cousins, Wordsworth.

Cheltenham Town (4-3-3): Brown; Gallinagh, Ridley, Westwood, Wright; Montrose (Finnigan 65), Russell, Westlake; Vincent, Connor (Hammond 15, Owusu 74), Bignall. Subs: Puddy, Bird.