Colchester United fell at the first hurdle in the FA Cup for the third successive year after losing at League One side Accrington Stanley this afternoon.

Dan Barlaser's deflected strike scored just after the half-hour mark proved the difference between the two sides, at the Crown Ground.

It was a disappointing day for the U's, who lost both defender Tom Eastman and goalkeeper Rene Gilmartin to injury in the first half.

U’s boss John McGreal made two changes to his starting line-up for their FA Cup tie against Accrington Stanley.

Brennan Dickenson was handed his first start in five games in place of the injured Luke Norris, with Frank Nouble in a central position.

There was also a recall for central defender Eastman, who replaced skipper Luke Prosser at the heart of the U’s defence.

But Eastman was only on the field for less than three minutes after suffering a clash of heads with Accrington’s Luke Charman in the opening minute, with Prosser on in his place.

Colchester made a promising start and went close in the seventh minute when Harry Pell’s shot deflected off Mark Hughes and forced keeper Connor Ripley to be sure and push the ball away for a corner.

Ripley was in action again soon after when he parried Sammie Szmodics’ 30-yard strike but quickly gathered the loose ball, with Dickenson closing in.

And the Stanley keeper made an even better save in the 12th minute when he denied Szmodics, after Courtney Senior had exchanged passes with Frank Nouble to set him up.

Colchester then saw a glorious chance go begging three minutes later when Nouble raced through on goal only to be denied by keeper Ripley, after Dickenson had done well in midfield to set him up.

Pell’s header from a corner then flew straight at keeper Ripley and Colchester played some attractive football in the opening 20 minutes.

But Accrington warmed to the task slowly and Billy Kee headed over from close range midway through the first half, after skipper Sean McConville had curled in a delightful cross into the area.

Colchester were dealt another injury blow on the half hour when goalkeeper Gilmartin picked up a leg injury taking a goal kick and had to be replaced by Dillon Barnes.

Luke Charman fired a fierce shot wide from 25 yards after Jordan Clark had done well to set him up.

But Colchester fell behind in the 34th minute when Dan Barlaser fired in a shot inside the area that deflected off Pell and looped past Barnes, after the ball had been given away in a dangerous area by the visitors.

On the stroke of half-time, McConville's 25-yard strike whistled just past the post and into the side netting with Barnes probably beaten as Colchester went in at the break trailing.

Barnes was called upon in the opening minutes of the second half when he made a good diving save to deny Clark.

But just after the hour, Colchester almost equalised when Nouble’s looping header dropped just wide of the post following Szmodics’ ball into the box.

The game began to become a little stretched after that and Accrington almost doubled their lead when Kee's long-range shot was pushed away by Barnes.

A minute later, Nouble was booked for simulation after going down under Ripley’s challenge in the area as the U's looked for a route back into the tie.

But with six minutes to go, Ben Richards-Everton’s header from a corner was well parried by Barnes and the U's could not force an equaliser, as they bowed out of the competition.