Justin Walker was left deflated after his Derby County Under-18s side were beaten 3-1 by Newcastle United at Moor Farm.
The two sides were level at the break after Jaden Charles’ stunning free-kick cancelled out Kain Reed’s opener.
However, the Young Rams faltered in the second-half and conceded a further two goals, signalling an end to their two match winning streak.
After the full-time whistle, manager Walker spoke about his frustration with the levels of performance shown by his side after the break.
Speaking to dcfc.co.uk he said: “I thought we were okay in the first-half, we created one or two opportunities but didn’t take them and sometimes you pay the price for that. They scored with their only shot of the first half really.
“In the second-half we were poor, there’s no real excuse for it to be honest.”
The boss went on to mention his disappointment at the lack of resilience shown by his side in the second 45 with very few opportunities created after falling behind.
“We’ve usually got very good resilience and character about us. Jaden [Charles] got us back into the game and from there I was expecting us to take the game to them but that didn’t quite materialise in the second half, we did very little in terms of making goalscoring opportunities,” he added.
Amongst the frustration, there was a small touch of pleasure for Walker who witnessed full-back Charles score a fantastic free-kick.
On this, he said: “Jaden [Charles] is capable of that. He’s created quite a few goals for us from set play situations this season and it was an excellent free kick.
“He deserves a lot of credit for the work he’s putting in and got his reward for it – as a manager, that’s what you love to see.”
Words by: Jack Hasler