“I just thought physically we got the better of today,” he told me. “The ball would move forward, their forwards would hold it up, we’d pass it to our strikers, and their defenders would win the battle. It’s a valuable lesson for us. “The midfield was overrun; we lost individual skirmishes all over the pitch today, and we finished second. “When you add that to the goals you concede – a long throw that we can’t deal with physically, and the second one, a long ball up the pitch that they couldn’t cope with the first time, they’re overloaded. The third one is a free kick that was whipped in.

“They were hungry and first to everything, while we were second. “It’s first versus second; we’ve brought 1400 people, but too many of them have not shown up. That’s quite disappointing, and it will hurt for a long time. “I am quite disappointed, and I will not disguise it. I get a lot of grief, but if you aren’t willing to fight and scrap your way to the top of the league, you will fail. “That was us today.” Adebola Oluwo’s 16th-minute effort was all Barnet had to show for a strong first half performance, and City was fortunate not to see them score a greater score before the break.

Hinshelwood responded with the introductions of strikers Josh Stones and Lenell John-Lewis, but neither could do anything to change the game, or affect the final result.

Lee Ndlovu scored the Bees’ second goal six minutes into the second half, before skipper Anthony Hartigan added a third from a free kick a handful of minutes later.

It wasn’t until added time that the Minstermen found a consolation as defender Malachi Fagan-Walcott bundled the ball home to ironic cheers.

“[The first goal] it’s from a long throw – I don’t think we dealt with it,” the City boss explained.

“If you don’t win the first ball, the second comes back in. It came straight back in, there was no-one marking, but that was constant throughout the game. If we did win the first one, we lost the second, we lost the third and there was no-one tracking runners. You make it a hard evening.

“We tried a bit of physicality to get the ball forward because we were getting pressed too hard and we weren’t able to play through them like we normally like to do.

“Even when it went forward, I thought their defenders won everything, their strikers won everything, their midfield players picked up all the seconds. That’s got all the ingredients for losing a game of football.

“We’ll watch the game back and see us lose a lot of individual battles and a lot of duels today.”

City lacked physicality and speed, and it was bereft of ideas throughout. Simple passes missed their intended targets, and they didn’t put debutant custodian Toby Savin to the test until the 75th minute. “Whenever we have a good opportunity, the delivery falls short of its intended destination. We were so off with everything: Harrison’s kicking, which I’d never seen him kick so badly, and Malachi and Callum [Howe] losing so many duels. It was all over the pitch. “When we did get opportunities, they put them on the money, but we missed them by 20 or 30 yards. “There was a huge gulf that evening, and I hope it hurts them. There is just one way to answer, and that’s to come out fighting, make sure you’re putting it all into training and try and be better players.

“It seems that many of our guys had never played at this level or with this much passion before. It’s not a National League South game; it’s at the top of the National League standings, and the tension was too much for some of us. “The biggest disappointment was that we didn’t compete. We didn’t actually put a glove on them. It was all too simple, and when we did get a chance to put our foot on the ball, I believe too many of us panicked and rushed.

“These players have been a credit, and they’re good human beings in there, but you can’t be too nice when you come to a place like this. They just looked like we were trying to win the game playing comfortable, and that’s what happens if you try and play comfortable in a game like this.”

Hinshelwood believes his side disappointed the club’s fans, nearly 1,200 of whom supported them in the capital, and is aware that there are plenty areas for improvement ahead of Saturday’s derby against Halifax. He admitted: “We were outrun from start to finish; we had a bit of a flurry when we scored, but it was disappointing.” We’ve let down our fans. When they applauded when we had a shot 75 minutes into the game, it was a terrible reflection of the evening. “You are only as good as your last game.” I dislike brushing over things. We were completely embarrassed here today, and there’s no hiding from it. We need to take full responsibility and look at where we can get better. There’s lots of areas we can improve on.

“You’re only as good as your previous game, and today’s was terrible. We’re all dissatisfied, hurt, and want to attempt to improve. “We’re not going to push it under the rug and pretend it was an isolated incident. We’re going to take responsibility and make sure we’re better by Saturday.”

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