Neil Danns was the hero as Colchester United recorded their first home league win since August at the expense of visiting Port Vale.
Central midfielder Danns scored twice with his first two goals for the club to put the U's in command inside the first 20 minutes.
Danns, whose on loan from Blackburn Rovers, broke the deadlock in the tenth minute when he bundled home a great cross from Gareth Williams. Danns could hardly miss from point-blank range, although he seemed to nose the ball home.
The Essex hosts were in the clear when Danns won a tackle and then advanced a few yards before smashing home a glorious left-footed shot from the edge of the box for his second in the 19th minute.
These were the fourth and fifth goals of Danns' career following previous strikes while on loan at Blackpool and Hartlepool.
Vale had lost their previous three league games, but they came out fighting in the second half and could count themselves unlucky not to find a way back into the game.
Striker Billy Paynter benefited from poor communication between Greg Halford and goalkeeper Aidan Davison in the 53rd minute only for Paynter's shot from close range to be smothered by Davison.
U's keeper Davison was struggling with an injury for much of the second half but most of Port Vale's efforts were off target.
However, the visitors did half the score in the 83rd minute when striker Lee Matthews' 20-yard shot took a slight deflection on its way past keeper Davison.
Colchester held on to establish themselves in the top six, and at the same time avoiding what would of been a third home league defeat on the trot, something that boss Phil Parkinson had not experienced since he took charge in the spring of 2003.
Ironically, Phil Parkinson's first game as U's boss was also at home to Port Vale ending in a 4-1 win.