Colchester United extended their unbeaten run to nine matches this afternoon following a hard-fought 1-1 draw at struggling Newport County.

Chris Porter's penalty cancelled out Josh Sheehan's opener, as the U's had to settle for a share of the spoils in front of 312 travelling fans on a difficult surface at Rodney Parade.

Colchester, who fielded the same starting line-up that had beaten Carlisle United seven days earlier, were rarely seen as an attacking force in the opening stages.

David Pipe closed down Brennan Dickenson’s clearance just outside the U’s area but Frankie Kent and George Elokobi both did well to clear the danger.

Colchester thought they might have had a penalty when Chris Porter took a tumble in the area after latching onto Kurtis Guthrie’s through pass and bursting into the area but nothing was given.

The U’s fell behind midway through the first half when they failed to deal with Sid Nelson's long throw and Josh Sheehan drilled a low shot past Sam Walker to give Newport the lead.

Colchester almost fell further behind 12 minutes before half-time when Aaron Williams’ low deflected shot straight at Walker, following Pipe’s ball into his feet in the area.

But the U’s got back on level terms barely two minutes later when Porter scored his ninth goal of the season from the spot, after Guthrie had been fouled by Darren Jones in the area.

George Elokobi’s far-post header from Owen Garvan’s cross was easily gobbled up by Newport keeper Joe Day, soon after.

But U’s keeper Walker made a good save just before the interval and held onto the ball well, after Williams had tried to hook a shot over him from close range.

The start of the second half was a closely-contested affair, with little to choose between the two sides and moments of quality in short supply.

Walker comfortably saved Williams' low shot before a few minutes later, the U's keeper made a fine save to push over a lofted effort from substitute Tom Owen-Evans as Newport threatened.

Walker gobbled up Craig Reid's header with 16 minutes remaining following Dan Butler's ball into the area, before Colchester sent on Denny Johnstone for Guthrie in a bid to force a winner.

Johnstone almost made an immediate impact, dragging a low shot wide after Chris Porter had charged down a clearance.

Tarique Fosu also came on as a late substitute but Colchester were unable to secure a sixth successive draw and had to settle for a point.