“We could have played for another two hours and still not scored,” says Gainsborough Trinity boss Lee Sinnott

Trinity lost out to a first-half goal, although were angry that what looked to be a fair equaliser was ruled out.

“Those are the games that are a hard pill to swallow,” said Sinnott. “We have played Buxton twice, they have had a man sent off in both games and they have taken the six points.

“It was a frustrating afternoon, but I have said to the players they have just got to refocus.

“We got the ball down better in the second half and moved it around the park better and stretched them better — it was our best half against the this season.

“But their defenders were in the right place at the right time for our crosses.

“We just needed a cutting edge — we could have been playing for another couple of hours and not scored.”

The home side took a 21st minute lead through John Pritchard, who found space just outside the penalty area before slotting past Jon Stewart, who made several fine saves during the match.

Sinnott added: “Sometimes you switch off and you don’t pay the price, but sometimes you do and that is what is happening to us.

“The goal is disappointing. We had enough bodies behind the player to have done better.”

Eighteen minutes later Trinity thought they had levelled through Damian Reeves after a scramble in the Buxton area, but the referee gave a free kick to Buxton.

Sinnott said Reeves was adamant he had not committed a foul and thought the referee was blowing for a penalty because a defender had handled.

Four minutes from time Buxton’s Josh Meade was sent off for a second yellow card.