Ellie Lovelock was still proud of the effort of her St Albans Ladies team but admitted they missed a big chance to record an upset in the 5-3 loss to Colney Heath.
Lovelock scored twice and Sophie Hull once as the Lady Saints took a 3-1 half-time lead against their loftier opponents.
It all changed in the second half as Colney came back leaving the striker to mull over what might have been.
She said: "We were outstanding in the first-half, absolutely outstanding. We played them off the park, we were passing it around them and making good runs but we dropped off the pace in the second-half.
"We knew they would come out fighting and we just didn't switch on. They scored two goals in five minutes and our heads dropped.
"The conditions were difficult for us in the second half but there's no excuse because we know we are better than that and we know that we can match teams at this level.
"It's disappointing but I'm really proud of the girls."
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