Colchester United were beaten at home by Morecambe

Sadly, Colchester did not turn up at all.

The U’s crashed to a demoralising defeat at the hands of the impressive Shrimps, who were superior in all departments, despite playing for nearly an hour with only ten men following Morecambe had already looked threatening and had hit a post, prior to taking a 21st-minute lead through JJ McKiernan.

READ MORE: Ben Garner apologises to U's fans after home defeat

By the time McKiernan had scored his second, early in the second half, the visitors were down to ten men following James Connolly’s red card following an off-the-ball incident with U’s striker Samson Tovide.

But that did not seem to affect Morecambe or stall their momentum; far from it.

Instead, they went and doubled their lead through McKiernan, from another set piece.

And when McKiernan ran almost the length of the U’s half to complete his fine hat-trick after Colchester corner had broken down, it was pretty much all over for the hosts.

Cameron McGeehan did restore some pride when he nodded in from close range and when Colchester were awarded a penalty in stoppage-time, there was a glimmer of hope that the home side might somehow rescue a very unlikely point.

READ MORE: U's fans have their say on Morecambe defeat

But Noah Chilvers blazed his spot-kick over the bar and that moment seemed to neatly encompass the collective frustration of the players, management and fans, following a day to forget.

The stats so far this season show that Colchester really struggle, after conceding first in a game.

When the U’s fell behind in the first half against Morecambe, it was the sixth time this season in all competitions that Ben Garner’s side have conceded the first goal in a match and failed to equalise.

Colchester have enjoyed much more success so far this season when they take the lead in games but sadly, they never really looked like happening on Saturday, following a pretty abject performance.

There is quality within this U's squad.

They are capable of getting results in this division, as they have shown with their wins over high-flying Notts County and Gillingham.

But they must show that in every single game and not allow their standards to drop, both individually and collectively.

If those standards are not met, they will inevitably lose; as we have seen recently, teams like Morecambe, Newport County and Crewe Alexandra will show no mercy.

READ MORE: Colchester United player ratings after Morecambe defeat

Colchester had seven players sidelined against Morecambe, due to either injury or suspension.

They badly missed Arthur Read’s influence in midfield but Garner is not one for excuses and to be fair to the U’s boss, he called his side’s display out for exactly what it was in his post-match interview.

"The players need to decide what they want to do, where they want to be as a group, how do they want to push forward because at the moment, some games it's there and other games, it's nowhere near,” said Garner.

There will be changes for the U’s trip to play bottom club Forest Green Rovers next weekend, a game that surely takes on extra significance even in this embryonic stage of the season given the respective league positions of the two teams.

The likes of Chay Cooper, Tom Hopper and Brad Ihionvien will be hoping to be involved as will Matt Jay, who has found himself out of the matchday squad, over recent weeks.

Suffice to say, Colchester must improve on their performance against Morecambe in all departments if they are to get their season back on track.