“I didn’t think we played anywhere near the levels which we are capable of,” he said,
“To sum the whole game up we played for about 15 minutes today. There was a quarter of an hour spell in the first half where we moved it (the ball) quick; we played quick and we got a penalty whilst we created a couple of other chances.
"Obviously we missed the penalty which was a big turning point in the game and Dean Briggs has hit the post from the rebound when really he should score. They’ve then broke and scored and for a team that were already playing 5-4-1 with the wind on their backs coming down the hill, to give them a 1-0 lead, we knew it would be difficult afternoon and so it proved.”
He continued: “They’ve put 11 men in their half and they’ve said ‘come and break us down’ - and we couldn’t because we haven’t moved the ball quick enough; we haven’t passed it well enough and we’ve turned the ball over too cheaply.
"So fair play to Heaton Stannington – they go away with three points in what was not a game for the purists. But how many times have we seen that this season?
"I keep saying to our lads ‘every team that comes here, most of them are going to do that’ because if teams come here and open up and play football against us, we know we’ve got the quality to cause them lots and lots of problems.
"However, today it just didn’t happen and it probably started to become ‘one of those games’ where you just think ‘it’s not going to be your day’ - whether the ball has dropped to the wrong person or it’s took a bobble or we’ve been leaning back or they’ve had 11 men in the box from corners and when it’s bounced, they’ve thrown their bodies on the line.”
He went on: “You can tell by the celebrations that you’d think they (Heaton Stannington) had won the cup final but it’s not about them – it’s about us and we know we need to be better than that - and we will be.”
Meanwhile the boss will await fitness reports from several of his players ahead of Saturday’s trip to face Thornaby (October 29).