Some Potters Bar Town players failed to grasp their opportunity said manager Max Mitchell as the Scholars were beaten at Wingate & Finchley on Easter Monday.
They went down 3-1, conceding to Ruben Carvalho in the first half and then to Alexander Solomon and Ben Frempah in the final 15 minutes, their goal coming in stoppage time off a home defender.
But after Saturday's home game with Margate was called off due to a waterlogged pitch at the Lantern Stadium, the boss believed he could have had more of a reaction from some of his squad.
He said: "First half they had a good 20-minute spell when they were on top but then we get stronger, which we knew we would. They had played Saturday and we had that extended break.
"That has its pros and cons as we weren't able to follow up a loss [against Dulwich Hamlet] and you get over your losses by having a game quickly.
"We had Saturday off but the pros from that is we had a little bit of a rest period.
"Our expectation was to start the game really strong and fast and we didn't do that.
"I felt there were a few players that really missed out on a opportunity. We had to make a few changes, we had a few missing, and both centre-halves, Ricky Hayles and Dwight Pascal are out at the moment.
"It was a game we'll have to take on the chin, stick our chests out and go again on Saturday."
It could have been a different story though had a strong start to the second period yielded a goal.
And there were positives to take for the boss, even if that goal didn't come.
Mitchell said: "We made a change at half-time and the for a good 15-minute spell we were on top and in that time when you need to score.
"The pleasing side for me is we took on the information at half-time and started the second half really brightly.
"All credit to Wingate, they are on a fantastic run and shown great consistency.
"We felt we could find ways to exploit them but a few didn't turn up today, I'll be completely honest."
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