STEVE Claridge slammed his defenders for making the 'same old mistakes' as Weymouth suffered a shock opening day 2-1 home defeat against Cambridge City.

The poor Terras went down to strikes either side of the break from Michael Gash and Dave Sadler in this Nationwide South clash.

The second favourites for the title had earlier looked to be living up to their billing after Matthew Bound thumped them into a second minute lead.

Fed-up Claridge said his side had failed to learn from last season despite bringing plenty of new blood into the Wessex Stadium over the summer.

He told Echosport: "Losing at home on the opening day is a real blow and I'm terribly disappointed by that showing.

"What has cost us is bad defending, people simply have not done the jobs they are asked to do.

"In many ways that was reminiscent of last season when we were a joke defensively.

"I thought I had cured that with the people we have brought into the club over the summer and the experience they give us.

"But during the first half we were diabolical defensively as a team and after that we gave ourselves a mountain to climb.

"As a manager there is not a lot you can do about it - people have to do the jobs they are asked to do.

"We got off to a great start with Matt Bound's free kick but before you know it they have equalised out of nothing.

"All it was a long punt up the middle that was flicked on - something basic to defend.

"I can't really fault our showing in the second half because we were a lot more solid at the back and a bit more threatening.

"Overall I've got to give Cambridge credit because they deserved to win and did an excellent job on us.

"But if we're going to defend like that this season, we can forget about any thoughts we have of doing well.

"It simply was not good enough and a big improvement is needed."

Claridge said he had no regrets over his choice of starting line up, preferring Shaun Wilkinson to Martin Barlow or Ian Hutchinson in midfield.

He said: "We started with Lee Philpott wide left with the idea of Shaun sitting in midfield and Bucks getting forward.

"It is fair to say we lacked width today and I can see why some people would ask why Ian Hutchinson did not play when he offers that width down the left.

"That's something I did ponder but in the end I decided we needed someone who can get behind the opposition's defence which is not Hutch's natural game.

"Obviously with Adam Wilde out injured, it is a blow for us on the left side because Adam is a key player for me this season.

"When Chukki came on and we moved to three up front, we looked dangerous but we were always fighting a losing battle after those defensive errors.

"What we've got to do now is make sure we put these mistakes right because we've got a lot of games coming up in quick succession, starting at Newport County on Wednesday."