AFC Sudbury joint boss Rick Andrews left 'gutted' for supporters and 'baffled' by way his side capitulated to Bury Town in New Year's Day derby

Rick Andrews revealed he could tell from the warm-up his AFC Sudbury side were not right ahead of today's painful 4-1 derby defeat to Bury Town.

Four goals flew in in 18 first-half minutes after Max Maughn chipped the ball over Alfie Stronge in the 24th minute.

It left the Yellows – who last played on December 21 due to a waterlogged pitch at Coggeshall Town – a mountain to climb. But they did manage to salvage some pride by scoring the only goal of the second half in a much improved display, via debutant Sakariya Hassan.

"Fair play to them, they were at it from the first minute," said Andrews, whose side dropped a place to seventh in the Pitching In Isthmian League North Division table after what was a third straight defeat.

"We felt we didn't look sharp in our warm-up and quite at it.

"We tried to gee them up before saying 'look, it's a derby'. We shouldn't have to gee them up.

"To be fair Bury started really quickly and I felt as soon as we conceded one we started to crumble.

"We had no leaders on the pitch and then two becomes three and three becomes four.

"The manner of the goals we conceded when we have gone from a team that kept nine clean sheets in 10 was baffling.

"Yes, we've got young players but you can't keep using that. They've got to grow quickly.

"Although they are young they have played 100-plus games in this league, if not more, so it's one we have to dust ourselves down and take it on the chin.

"They celebrated loudly which we actually quite enjoyed, me and Ang (Angelo Harrop) as a management, as it sinks into the players.

"I am just gutted for the supporters as I know it is a big game for them.

"In the second half we told them to go and perform and at least win the second half so you could argue we've done that.

"Was it a case of Bury taking their foot off the pedal? I don't think so, to be fair.

"I think we brought on some fresh legs and also had some energy about us.

"We got a goal and the game petered out. The game was dead when the fourth one went in. The game was actually dead when the third one went in, if I'm being honest.

"It's football and that's the highs and lows."

Asked if harsh words at half-time had provoked the improvement, which came with all three substitutes used ahead of the second period kicking off, he replied: "I wouldn't say harsh but I would say honest words.

"Look, these players are at a level for a reason, they are going to have good games and bad games. But the one thing we won't tolerate is a lack of effort.

"I'm not particularly saying the three that came off were off due to lack of effort, we wanted to change the shape and I do think we were definitely better second half.

"But look, they have to learn and learn quickly. It's a bad day for us and we're going to have to bounce back on Monday at Witham (Town, 3pm) which again, is not an easy place to go but we've got to go and get on with it.

"We've got some growing up to do and hopefully we can do that quickly and get back on it."

Hassan, whose arrival had not been announced by the club prior to kick-off, was one of the few players to come off the pitch with credit after his eye-catching second half debut.

"He's played against us with Barking and gave us a tough time. You can see he's very, very comfortable on the ball," said Andrews of the central midfielder who had begun the season with higher-league Hornchurch.

"He's got good energy, he's very strong for a slight player and the manner in which he took his goal personified everything about him; he doesn't panic.

"Then young (Josh) Stokes as well, the boy's 17 or 18 and obviously we're then getting on the ball and suddenly playing football.

"(Harry) Critchley came on and he's covered more yardage in 20 minutes than some of our players did all game.

"There are some positives to take on what's been a pretty poor day for us."

Despite an improved second half, Andrews revealed there were still some strong words delivered at full-time.

"We're just really disappointed we haven't done well for the supporters because it was a big game for them," he said.

"There was some harsh words said as we left the pitch which was fully justified and I said to the players that is not the sort of team I want to manage listening to comments like that.

"Second half people behind us were more engaged as they could see we had 11 players out there who were working their socks off."

Meanwhile, Bury Town manager Ben Chenery revealed in his post-match interview how they had targeted a perceived weakness of the AFC Sudbury side.