COLCHESTER United boss Geraint Williams admitted that his team “did not perform” after a humbling 4-2 defeat at Hartlepool on the opening day of the 2008-09 season.

Carl Marston

COLCHESTER United boss Geraint Williams admitted that his team “did not perform” after a humbling 4-2 defeat at Hartlepool on the opening day of the 2008-09 season.

“We didn't expect that, although we knew that Hartlepool would come at us with a fast start. We did not heed that warning,” admitted Williams.

“Three of their strikes were from outside the box, and were phenomenal. But I'm scratching my head at the moment, because we had a good build-up to this game with a good pre-season.

“No one at the club could see this performance coming. We were well beaten today, and we need to analyse why we conceded four goals. We let them have too many shots, and perhaps didn't close them down enough.

“But this is only 90 minutes, it's not an overall season. Steven Gillespie scored a couple of good goals, but we're not fooling anyone,” added Williams.