Manager Mark Bonner accepted his Gillingham side’s performance at Colchester wasn’t good enough.
The Gills had picked up seven points from their previous three games but looked well off the pace against the U’s – a goal down after just six minutes and second-best for much of the match, conceding again late on.
Report: Colchester 2 Gillingham 0
“Not good enough,” was how the manager reacted afterwards.
“A really disappointing level from us in every aspect really. They deserved it, 100 per cent.
“We’re frustrated because it’s like, ‘good week, bad week’. That’s the inconsistencies of the team at the moment.
“We had a really good number of supporters to watch the game who will have gone home angry and they should do. I’m sorry we couldn’t give them better than that.
“We were too lacking in too many areas from the start of the game where they got right on top. A fast starting team as they are, we didn’t match their intensity too often throughout the game.
“When we had opportunities to get control of the game the number of misplaced passes and unforced errors was just way, way, too high.
“They made more of their attempts and chances on goal than we did. We didn’t make enough of them.
“We tried everything, in terms of changes and shape, everything, but none of it worked because we never got to the level that we needed to for long enough to be a bigger threat in the game.
“In the end it looks really scruffy when they create the chances they do. It looks horrific when we look that open.
“We’ve got loads to do because that’s a disappointing level and they’re in really good form. They’re hard to score and create chances against.”
Colchester haven’t conceded in seven consecutive games now.
“We knew it would be tough in terms of creating chances,” said Bonner.
“But we didn’t do enough with the moments that we had and we couldn’t match or keep up with their hard running.
“They were able to run harder than we were.”
Colchester took the lead after just six minutes as they made the most of a dominant start. Their second came on 85 minutes following a poor pass at the back from Shad Ogie.
Bonner said: “We didn’t get control of the opening periods and then we’re all out of shape for the first goal.
“We slip at the wrong time, they score and then we get really flustered and don’t get any real intensity into our game and then look really dispirited by the way in which we started the game.
“It had moments, and it certainly had turning point or potential turning points where we could have got control of the game, but it took us about 40 minutes to get a regain in their half and break on them. We didn’t make enough of that firstly, but we didn’t do enough of that either.
“We were too open, really, from back to front. We were too passive when the ball went into wide areas.
“It’s one of those days where too many elements of the game look horrible but it could probably all be solved partly with a greater intensity and a better aggression to go and get around them a little bit more in certain situations. We didn’t do it, we didn’t lock them down at all well enough.
Trailing 1-0 at the break, Bonner made two changes to the team. Max Clark and Jack Nolan were taken off.
Bonner said: “ Shape v shape in the first half. They were miles better than us.
“We twisted and changed the shape to try and do something. To do that, there had to be a couple that came off. It was Jack and Max today.
“It could have been a few, to be honest.
“I’m not sure there’s anyone who would have held their hand up and said they had a good game.”
