He lamented missed one-on-ones and gifting free kicks close to the 18m box after a lion's share of possession in the first spell.
Dale coach Robbie Parker agreed as his men took control in the second half with one-two touches of deft play.
"We were sluggish and our energy levels were low but in the second half we got our momentum up to come away with three points," Parker said.
Taradale 2 (Leon Birnie, Brendan Adema) Port Hill 0. HT: 0-0.
Marist 1 Rovers 3
Matt Hastings thought they deserved to win but the endorsement of counterpart Dave Carswell puts it beyond doubt.
"They played fantastically well but that result doesn't do them justice or where they are [on the table]," Carswell said after his Hot Shots Napier Marist lost 3-1 to Promotem Napier City Rovers in the Park Island derby.
Hastings lauded the Blues for keeping the ball and moving it around as Marist took a "disruptive" approach.
"It's the best we've played this year," he said, hailing comeback kid Sean Peta for making a great goalkeeper's save in a game where the Rovers could have been at least four goals up.
While Carswell isn't suggesting Rovers aren't a "big team", he feels Marist are inexplicably coming up shy against "other teams".
"If one person brings it everybody has to so we're lacking a bit of hunger."
Marist 1 (Ben Andrews) Rovers 3 (Andy Pickering 2, own goal). HT: 1-0 Rovers.
Maycenvale 0 Havelock 4
At Hawke's Bay Regional Sports Park ground, Hastings, Best Travel Havelock North shrugged off a bit of rustiness to overwhelm Cru Bar Maycenvale United 4-0.
"The surface was good but we had the wind behind us in the first half," Havelock coach Bruce Barclay said after the hosts kept them scoreless in the first 45 minutes.
"We didn't quite gel and we had a bit of cobwebs so we didn't hit our straps until the second half," Barclay said.
Vale 0 Havelock 4 (Angus Furher, Adam Kockelburg, BJ Christensen, Che Jesson-Bentley). HT: 0-0.
Gisborne 5 Rangers 0
At Childers Road Reserve, it was a killing field experience for Western Rangers yesterday.
Jennian Homes Team Gisborne player/coach Dave Ure was understandably pleased after his men thumped the Hastings team 5-0.
"We kept the ball well," Ure said, adding they had injected five schoolboys to share the collective's achievement.
Rangers coach Ritchie Howard said the hosts played superbly.
"I'm not 100 per cent disappointed because my boys created opportunities and got into the game," Howard said, adding they competed ably although the score didn't suggest that.
"They scored in the first minute of the second half and that killed the game. We've learned a lesson and are moving on."
Gisborne 5(Corey Adams 2, Chaeeauxyan Makau-McPhee, Kane Stirton, Max Logan) Rangers 0 . HT: 2-0.
Federation League
Taradale 2 PN Marist 0
After five consecutive defeats, Your Solutions Taradale savoured victory at home on Saturday.
The hosts exacted revenge, inflicting the first loss, 2-0, on table-topping Palmerston North Marist.
"We have been playing not all that bad and working hard so we got a result today by learning from that," player/coach Chris McIvor said.
McIvor put it down to finding a modicum of consistency and a bit of luck.
"It's our first clean sheet, too, so it's been a long time coming."
They play bottom dwellers Feilding next although the opposition held North End (Palmerston North) to a draw on Saturday.
It also pleased McIvor that Red Sox Manawatu lost 3-0 to Wanganui City.
Taradale 2 (K Bright, J Harris) PN Marist 0. HT: 0-0.
