John Smith's PNE Fans' Panel verdict: We were on already the beach
I was left feeling as deflated as the proverbial lead balloon on the way back from our disappointing loss at Derby.
The journey home was made even more miserable by the long delays and motorway closures on what was definitely a night out at the football I'd like to instantly forget.
Although Derby had won their last three games, the flatness of this display against a side still in the relegation mire and fighting to avoid a swift return to League One gives me cause for some concern.
I personally thought that there was very little pride to be taken from this performance at Pride Park, which reminded me so much of ones in seasons gone by when our teams have played like they were ready to rub on the factor-10, grab their buckets and spades and head off in the direction of the beach.
We began brightly, missing a golden opportunity to take an early lead in the second minute when Milutin Osmajic was played through on goal when a Derby defender miscued the ball, but his poor first touch took the ball too wide of the goal and his resulting shot was easily saved.
We looked quite lively after this, controlling the game by playing some confident passing football in the first half-hour but could not break the home side down, with Derby slowly beginning to get a foothold in the game before the interval without seriously pressurising us.
At half-time I thought the game was heading for another draw, just like when the two sides met in the reverse fixture at Deepdale.
To quote the late legendary commentator John Motson, it was "the goals which made all the difference in this game", which certainly was the case on Wednesday night
In a sustained period of pressure in the opening seven minutes of the second period we could not get the ball out of our own half which resulted in the home side hitting us with a double salvo, from which there was to be no coming back.
It was disappointing that both these goals came from our inability to defend high balls into the penalty area, something which I think has become a recurring theme too often over the past few seasons..
Manager Paul Heckingbottom responded by making substitutions and during the game’s closing stages we had all our three central strikers Osmajic, Riis and Evans on the field at the same time.
On another day we might have had a late penalty but the damage had been done and, for a long time before the game petered out to its inevitable conclusion, I had the feeling that if we had played until midnight we still would not have scored.
The loss means that worryingly we have only won two out of our last 11 league matches, something which will have to be improved on next season if any progress is to be made.