The last time Colchester United lost on the first day of the season, they were on the wrong end of a heavy defeat at Victoria Park.

Eight years on at the same venue, a new-look U’s side with a similar transitional feel thankfully fared considerably better.

Not since Geraint Williams’ Colchester team were trounced 4-2 at Hartlepool United in their 2008-09 curtain-raiser have they tasted defeat in their Football League curtain-raiser.

On that occasion, the U’s were still recovering from the disappointment of relegation and acclimatising to life in a new division, much like the club’s current side.

But that was where the similarities ended on Saturday, for there was never any hint of a repeat showing this time around.

The full significance of the U’s 1-1 draw with Hartlepool will probably not be known for some time.

After all, Colchester also drew their previous two opening-day fixtures and went on to suffer a campaign of struggle and strife.

Indeed, few would have been bold enough to predict that both the U’s and Blackpool would be relegated on the back of their entertaining 2-2 draw, 12 months ago.

But the U’s display in their first game under new head coach John McGreal at least gave them a solid platform from which to build, in addition to a good away point.

And their positive performance offered enough evidence to suggest that they will be an exciting team to watch, under their new boss.

It is of course difficult to gauge how well a team will perform over the course of a 46-game season on the evidence of just one 90-minute match.

The fact that the impressive Tom Lapslie was the only Colchester starter to have also been part of their starting line-up against Rochdale on the final day of last season serves to illustrate the transitional nature of the U’s summer; it will take time for their new signings to bed in.

However, there were signs of genuine promise to come from Colchester’s performance and they looked the more likely side to grab a winner, in what was an even contest.

Now they must ensure that they build on this heartening display and use it as a platform for a productive season.