COLCHESTER United boss Paul Lambert was deeply disappointed by his side's home flop at the hands of lowly Hereford United, who were allowed to escape with their first away league win of the season.

Carl Marston

Colchester United 1 Hereford United 2

COLCHESTER United boss Paul Lambert was deeply disappointed by his side's home flop at the hands of lowly Hereford United, who were allowed to escape with their first away league win of the season.

First-half goals from Steve Guinan and Lionel Ainsworth proved too much for the U's, who responded with a 70th minute goal from Jermaine Easter.

Lambert fumed: “We just never got going. Give Hereford credit for coming here and winning, but I'm really, really disappointed with this performance.

“You can't give teams two-goal head-starts, which is what we did. We are not good enough to do that, and I simply hate conceding goals from set pieces (Guinan's goal).

“We were marginally better in the second half, but we gave ourselves too much to do. It's easy to play when you are 2-0 down, because the pressure is off.

“There was plenty of endeavour, but it was all too late. We never gave the crowd anything to shout about.

“Everyone just thought that we would win today, but you have to earn the right to win. We didn't do that. We didn't deserve anything, perhaps a draw at a push,” added Lambert.