Peterhead defender Ryan Conroy felt his side were lucky to come away with just a 3-0 defeat against Cove Rangers.
The Blue Toon were barely in the game at the Balmoral Stadium and were well-beaten, through goals from Ryan Strachan and a Mitch Megginson brace.
Conroy, who was an early substitute after an injury to Simon Ferry, added that Peterhead manager Jim McInally had told them how far off their game they had been.
He said: “We weren’t good enough. They were miles better than us on the day. Every one of us is better than that and the manager told us.
“They deserved the win and we were probably lucky it was only 3-0.
“On the ball, I don’t think we were good enough and just gave them the ball back. They were pretty good but I think we made it pretty easy for them.
“If you play like that you’re not going to win any game. We got a couple of balls in behind at the end but the game was done by that stage.
“It’s disappointing because if you play a good team like that and don’t get up against them, you’re going to get hurt.”
Most games between the two north-east clubs have been relatively close but this was the first occasion where a clear gulf in class has been evident.
Conroy added: “It’s the first time where there’s been a bit of a gap (in the games) and that’s due to us. We were all off the pace – you can maybe afford to have one or two but you can’t afford to have 11 of us off it.
“We need to put it to the back of our heads and we’ve got another hard game next week. We know if we play well we can beat any team in this league, so we just need to get back to it.”