Havelock North had the ability to at least draw, if not win, but a few mental lapses proved costly.
"Yeah, it was probably a silly challenge to make knowing he was already booked but it is what it is," Greatholder said of the 80th-minute exit of his captain, Bjorn Christensen, to a second yellow card.
"We've showed a lot of bravery there and a lot of fight in the last 15 minutes or however long with 10 men."
It filled him with a sense of pride that his defenders were disciplined in organising their shape.
While things got a little nasty on the field Greatholder said his troops had answered a few questions.
"There's still plenty of optimism there because we haven't played as well as we can play today because we've let ourselves down with possession a little bit."
Championing a methodical presence, Greatholder felt the Wanderers weren't going to commit the same mistakes in two consecutive games.
He agreed creating chances was not an issue for Havelock North but emphasised that going for the jugular was something his foragers would have to grasp smartly to turn into goals.
"We've created many [opportunities] so maybe on another day we can do that."
For now he was delighted to have another attempt this Saturday to try to resurrect the Wanderers' campaign of making it to the Lotto Central League next year.
Greatholder accepted the momentum had shifted to Karori but remained adamant his men were capable of scoring goals and putting up the shutters to do what at face value looked daunting.
"We've scored goals all season and we've done it before so that's football.
"The cards have been laid out and there's no more guesswork so it's kind of we have to go down there to beat them. I think we've got enough to do that."
While the absence of Christensen would be felt the Wanderers had carried on without their skipper who was away for the past three weeks in England.
He highlighted teenager Kenneth Willox, younger brother of Ross, a Conroy Removals Napier City Rovers player studying in the US now, was unlucky not to start on Saturday and should come into the equation in Christensen's place.
"We have a like-for-like replacement and we have a few boys champing at the bit."
Greatholder said hopefully referee Matt Conger wasn't going to take further action on his assistant coach, Bruce Barclay, who hadn't said anything out of turn before he was ordered to leave the hosts' bench.
The Karori bench got on their feet to howl collectively at Conger after Christensen's second yellow-card foul with Greatholder on the sideline after he was substituted.
However, Barclay yelled out at Conger to not let the Karori chorus influence his decision: "Don't take any crap from them."
Said Greatholder: "There's obviously a little bit of frustration. I've seen a lot of action on the touchlines in the past so that doesn't warrant a sending off in my opinion.
"It was a foul [from Christensen] and that was disappointing but the way they [Waterside Karori] leapt up was disappointing too because they knew he was going to be sent off.
"In the heat of the moment he [Barclay] hasn't sworn or been nasty so I'm hoping the ref's going to have a little think about that and not [report it] so he can go to the next game."
He thanked the robust Wanderers' faithful who turned out to support the team as well as "the wider community" from other Bay clubs such as Taradale FC and Porthill Soccer Club.
"I have had some great messages from people who I have not spoke to in a year or two so that's really pleasing and we owe ourselves and lots of other people next round to do the job."
Garcia said Karori treated the tough game as a final.
"You play for everything each year so it was good to get back in to win after conceding an early goal from a corner kick."
He said the Wanderers had a chance to equalise in a clash where both sides gave 100 per cent but was happy to see Karori prevail.
"The pressure is always there so if you relax you can make mistakes and for us we have to win [the next game].
"We're not going to change that attitude because we try to win every time we play so next Saturday won't be any different."
