IDEALLY, Colchester United would be reflecting on their first win of the season, this Sunday afternoon.

Instead, the U's were forced to settle for a point from their opening home game of the embryonic League Two campaign.

A draw was probably a fair result in the end, although Wayne Brown felt Colchester deserved all three points.

Nevertheless, the U's boss was philosophical in his post-match assessment.

"There's not many teams that can produce the complete performance," he said.

"Yes we would like to start games better and takes games to the opposition like we did in the second half but I think we have to give them (Carlisle) credit as well because of the way they set up and the positivity of their wing-backs.

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"We reacted to that and we posed them problems.

"It's two games and the good thing about it is that there's loads and loads of positives.

"We're playing OK, especially in the second half of games but we need to find the right recipe in the first half of games to maybe start a little bit better than we have done in the previous two.

"But we're getting a reaction from the boys and as long as we're doing that, we'll win games of football."

Colchester's performance in the 1-1 draw with Carlisle United perhaps raised more questions than answers for the hosts, particularly with regard to which system might suit them best this season.

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First, the positives.

The U's looked dangerous at times and did look like creating chances, particularly in the first half.

Freddie Sears was unlucky not to score with a shot that rattled a post, while Noah Chilvers took his goal extremely well.

At the other end, goalkeeper Sam Hornby made a number of good saves, a boost for him following the arrival of Kieran O'Hara in the week.

Fellow summer signing Alex Newby showed some nice touches on his first start for the club, while Colchester's substitutes all made an impact after stepping off the bench in the second half.

The negatives?

On too many occasions, the U's allowed their opportunities to create goalscoring opportunities in key areas.

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It was really only down to Hornby that Colchester did not concede more than once.

In addition, the timing of Carlisle's goal was a bit of a killer blow for the hosts, just before half-time.

At the other end, Colchester's decision making let them down in the final third on too many occasions when they had showed promise.

They got into some decent areas in the Carlisle half but seemed not mentally sharp enough to take them.

Perhaps that it is partly down to the early stage of the season.

But at times, Sears was a little isolated, prompting inevitable criticism from some fans about the decision to leave John Akinde on the bench, given that the duo had been paired together through much of pre-season.

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Colchester did look more organised in the second half though, after Brown's tactical switch that saw their wide men get higher up the pitch.

They were braver and more enterprising and that was encouraging, as they seek their first win of the season.

Next up for Colchester is a short trip to play their neighbours Ipswich Town in the Carabao Cup first round, on Tuesday night.

It will be interesting to see whether boss Brown reverts back to pairing two in attack as he did on the opening day at Northampton or sticks to the 4-2-3-1 system he played against Carlisle.

Whatever happens, a win would undoubtedly be a big boost for U's fans who seemingly have divided opinions so far on the club's start to the new season.