DEAN Whitehouse says Tividale were “naive” after their FA Vase dream was ended by Peterborough Northern Star in a 2-0 defeat.

Tivi played most of the game against 10 men after visiting skipper Jimmy Dean was sent off but could not find a way through, with Star winning the tie and progressing to the last eight thanks to two goals in extra-time.

Whitehouse admitted the defeat was one of his lowest points in three-and-a-half years at the club and said players failed to heed instructions to change their passing style, on what was a quagmire of a pitch.

He said: “I think the players were a little naive in how they went about things.

“We were still trying to pass the ball when the best option was to get it forward as quickly as possible.

“We kept yelling from the bench to stick it on them but got no response.

“I’m not going to mad at the players because we’ve had a fantastic run in the competition and they gave their all.

“But I don’t think the club will ever have a better chance of reaching the last eight of the Vase and I’ll freely admit it was hard to take.”

Whitehouse described the last two performances, including last Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat at Stratford Town, as the worst since he arrived at the club as manager.

But he added: “You have to put things in perspective. There are not many times we have lost two games in a row over the past couple of years.

“Me and Stu sat down on Sunday to talk about things and decided it’s time to stop feeling sorry for ourselves. We have a young side who play good football.

“The club has come on leaps and bounds in the past couple of years and we have the right people in place to move forward.”