North Force's four-game winning streak came to a screaming halt on Saturday as they were walloped 4-0 by Melville United in Hamilton.
Rather than being down in the dumps about the defeat, coach Paul Cross said the result flattered Melville.
"We're not disappointed, it was actually a pretty close game. They were
an experienced side and their experience was the telling factor at the end of the day, because they were clinical in front of goal, and they deserved to win," he said.
North Force dominated the opening 45 minutes of the game but couldn't score from a number of clear chances. They conceded a "soft" goal to trail 0-1 at the break but then gave away another goal to a penalty a minute into the second spell and wilted after that.
He conceded promotion was now beyond the team and said it was a good chance to start building for next season.
"Promotion is now out of our reach but we're still pretty upbeat about things, we want to make the most of our last two games and finish as high on the table as we can," Cross said.
A number of youngsters were in the side on Saturday and teenagers Joseph Luiten and Murray Wooten both got game time toward the end of the match.
In the Northland Premier League a 10-1 thrashing of Central Brown by FC Whangarei now sees them as odds-on favourites to win the league in what has been a fairly close competition to date.
Onerahi beat Kamo 2-0 to move past their rivals into second place on the table, while Madhatters came back from 0-2 down to beat Tikipunga 5-2.
The other match between Kerikeri and local rivals Kaikohe was postponed after the Kerikeri ground was deemed too wet.
