COLCHESTER United and Southend United have both been fined £1,000 by the FA following a ‘mass confrontation’ towards the end of the Essex derby on Boxing Day.

A late challenge on Shrimpers left-back Sam Hart resulted in a melee between the two teams which led to referee Neil Hair showing a trio of yellow cards.

They admitted a charge for a breach of FA Rule E20 and accepted the standard penalty.

A statement on the FA website said: “Breach of FA Rule E20.1 - It is alleged that in or around the 95th minute of the fixture, Colchester United FC failed to ensure that its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion."

The U's lost the game 2-0, at Roots Hall.