Head coach Nelson Jardim expressed his frustration after Newport County fell to a 2-0 defeat at home to Colchester United.
The Exiles looked to be heading for a share of the points at Rodney Parade, but two late goals from Fiacre Kelleher and Anthony Scully condemned them to back-to-back defeats.
“Very difficult to take,” Jardim said post-match. “Again, when you look at the game overall, I think if you had to choose the better team, they didn’t win the game. Football is just like that, and I told the boys they let themselves down today.
“It came down to two moments, two set plays again. In the last two games we’ve conceded four goals from set pieces, and we are trying to get this sorted. This is something we always struggle with, and today we lost because of those two moments. But overall, I think a point would’ve been a fair result.”
It’s an area Jardim admits has been a recurring problem for his side this season.
“There have been a lot of goals conceded from set plays across the season, and those moments are costing us a lot of points, a lot of games—and today was another one of those.
“The staff are working hard on set plays. In those moments of set pieces, we clearly don’t rise to the level needed.
“We are all frustrated, and it is down to the players to do their jobs on set pieces—and they let themselves down again.”
Despite the result, Jardim was encouraged by elements of the performance, pointing to the effort and intent of his players.
“It was a tough week after the last result," he added. You’ve seen today a team that wanted to win. If we didn’t want to win, we wouldn’t have played with two strikers up front.
"We were close—we hit the post with Ajiboye and had a couple of other chances, but still we lacked quality in the final third to create even more.”
