Sean Murray says adopting a different mindset helped Colchester United produce an improved second-half performance to secure victory over Hartlepool United.

The U’s were not at their fluent best in the first half but improved after the break and goals from Kurtis Guthrie and Chris Porter helped them take a 2-0 lead, before Nathan Thomas grabbed a late consolation for Pools.

Murray, who shone on his second start for Colchester, played his part in helping his side claim an important win and says they played as more of a team, after the break.

Murray said: “We didn’t really get going in the first half and didn’t really get the ball down as much.

“We rushed it a bit with the long passes and sometimes we overplayed a bit deeper up the pitch which we spoke about at half-time.

“I think we rectified that and we came out in the second half with a different mindset.

“I found the ball a lot more to feet in the second half and it gave me a chance to try and create some attacks.

“We played as a team, we got two goals and it was a good game for us.

“I wanted to make an impact because I don’t think I created many chances in the first half.

“I did get in a few times and have a shot but I knew that I could do more.

“I think as a team, we all knew that we had to improve.

“The manager said that to us at half-time and we took it on board.”

Murray played his part in Colchester’s well-worked opening goal, picking out Richard Brindley who provided the cross for Guthrie’s header.

“It was a good team goal,” said the Republic of Ireland under-21 international, who joined Colchester from Swindon Town last month.

“The cross from Richard was brilliant and obviously the run from Kurtis as well.

“That’s what we do work on in training on a Friday – we put it out wide and get crosses in.

“It just shows that if we do it in training and do it well and focus on it, it’s massive in a game because that’s when we get the goals.

“We could have had a few more goals and there were some good crosses from either side.”