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Matthew Etherington was left feeling frustrated and disappointed after he suffered his first defeat as manager of Crawley Town against Hartlepool.

Crawley were poor throughout the game to the annoyance of Etherington. Hartlepool scored two easy goals from corners – the first from Rollin Menayese and the second an own goal by Travis Johnson.

Speaking after the game, Etherington summed the performance up as being ‘poor’ and described the performance as being the polar opposite to last weekend’s performance v Swindon.

“I just didn’t recognise us,” he said. “I think it was confidence. We were moving the ball too slowly. We were playing safe and going backwards when we could be receiving it better and going forwards. We were just so tentative with what we were doing. There was no purpose to what we were doing and that was the real disappointing thing”

“We were poor on the ball, and it is that simple. We were awful on the ball. Moved it too slowly. We weren’t brave enough.”

In the game the Reds only managed one shot on target. Something, again, that frustrated the home side’s manager who said:

“One shot on target is nowhere near good enough when you’re playing at home. I think the players know it as well. I’m sure they do. They are all disappointed in there and we need to get better.”

The fans during the game certainly had plenty to say on the performance and were vocal in expressing their opinions. Many fans left early and the ones that stayed booed the team as they walked off after the final whistle.

In particular they were most vocal singing about Tom Nichols who has been rumoured to be leaving the club over the past few days.

Etherington was quick to apologise to the fans for the performance saying:

“It was an awful performance and I apologise to the fans for turning up on a night like this, freezing cold, and seeing that. It’s nowhere near good enough.”

“I understand [the fans reaction]. It was poor and so they have every reason to be vocal. There’s no issue from me whatsoever. I’ll do to the best of my ability to rectify those kinds of performances and make sure they are rarer and rarer.”

After the defeat Etherington looks to get his side back on track as they take on Tranmere Rovers away from home next Saturday.

'I just didn't recognise us' - Crawley Town boss reacts to 'poor' performance after Hartlepool United defeat