United were without injured star and skipper Chris Goulding and fresh off a double-overtime road war with Perth on Saturday.

It left them as vulnerable as they’ll be at any time this season at home, but the Hawks missed the jump badly, trailing by 12 at quarter-time.

It came on the back of a shooting clinic from United star Casper Ware, but it was lacklustre efforts in hustle areas that prompted a post-match spray from Beveridge.

“Our first half was disgusting,” Beveridge said.

“We got beat everywhere, rebounding, loose balls, [getting] beaten off the dribble. We’re disappointed with that because it’s not us.

“Maybe we thought, ‘Goulding’s not playing’, ‘Ware hasn’t been shooting the ball well’. I think that may have happened and that’s a recipe for disaster right there

“A lot of the time you’ve got to look in the mirror at yourself. That’s what I’ve asked the guys [to do], don’t go and point the finger and blame anybody. 

“We’ve got to have a better mindset going into a game.”

The Hawks also produced a sluggish start against Brisbane last Saturday, giving up 30 first-quarter points before storming home to an eight-point win.

A similar effort fell short against United, with a 54-43 second-half not enough to reel in a deficit that at one-point stood at 22 points. It’s something they’ll need to address according to Beveridge.

“I’m sick of starting slow and coming home with a wet sail,” Beveridge said.

“When you’re playing very good teams you can’t win these games. That first half was totally unsatisfactory.

“The way Melbourne shot that ball, the first quarter in particular, was outstanding but we buried ourselves in a hole though terrible defence. We tried to dig ourselves out of it but the mindset just was not right.

“Ware was very, very good early and made some huge shots because he’s a class act, but our defensive rebounding was just disastrous.

“We do have a bunch of battlers and they work hard and stuff like that, but we completely failed in that first half and it cost us the game.”

Import forward Brian Conklin led the second-half offensive, finishing with 25 points and five rebounds, but was left equally frustrated by his side’s sluggish start.

“You can’t come on the road and give up 30,” Conklin said.

“That just didn’t help us, getting behind the eight-ball.

“We’ve just got to figure out what we want to do because that’s the second time we’ve given up 30 points in the first quarter.

“Luckily we were able to come back at home [against Brisbane], but when you’re on the road and you dig yourselves that kind of hole it’s really tough.” 

The two sides will right the next chapter in what’s developing into an enthralling rivalry in Wollongong on Thursday week, but the Hawks next challenge comes against arch-rivals Sydney at Qudos Bank Arena on Friday.