Worcester City slipped to their third straight league defeat when Moses Adebola's second-half header condemned them to a 1-0 defeat at Woking.
Despite this, the City manager Richard Dryden felt there were positive signs to take from this performance.
"We made it very hard for them, so much so that in the end they had to change their system," he said.
"They had to get the ball forward quicker than they wanted to which was a testament to our 11 players," he added.
After an entertaining and fairly even first half, Woking eventually made the breakthrough on 59 minutes when Aswad Thomas' cross was headed in at the far post by Moses Ademola.
Despite this setback, Richard Dryden's side stuck to the task and might have levelled the game late on when Marco Adaggio's late shot was saved at the foot of his near-post by the Cards' keeper Ross Worner.
While he could not fault his players' industry throughout the match, Dryden felt they had been the architects of their own downfall in the second period.
The goal was a poor one as it was a loopy cross that came in and it's a header that we should be dealing with
Richard Dryden
"At half-time I was quite happy with how we were playing but, while the work rate was still there in the second half, the ball retention wasn't anywhere near as good," he said.
"If you keep giving the ball away to a team like Woking then you are going to be defending and defending.
"The goal was a poor one as it was a loopy cross that came in and it's a header that we should be dealing with," he added.
Richard Dryden had been hoping to field the former Stafford Rangers player Alfonso Carter in the match at Kingfield Stadium, but was unable to do so as international clearance had not come through in time.
Dryden is looking forward to being able to call on Carter and is hopeful he will be available for the home match against Basingstoke Town.
"He's been playing in the League of Wales for a couple of seasons and can play anywhere on the left-hand side as well as up front," he said.
"He has been coaching in America but came back on Tuesday and we had an 11-a-side game in training and he did well.
"A few of the young lads came in to help us out while Alfonso came down and he did ok."
There will be full commentary on Worcester City against Basingstoke Town online at bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester from 1940 BST on Monday 17 August.
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