Wealdstone chief Gordon Bartlett left the Vale a frustrated man on Saturday as his side failed to hold out against Maidenhead United.

Shaun Lucien gave the hosts the lead before it was cancelled out by a late Dave Tarpey effort to keep the Stones waiting for their first home win of the season.

Bartlett made it clear after the game that this was becoming too frequent in recent weeks, as their positivity is costing them points.

He said: “The biggest disappointment once again was conceding late and it is something that has happened too much in recent weeks.

“We have to be a little bit more professional and keep possession. But the reason we gave it away is because we are trying to be positive, is that a criticism? When you concede a goal, yes.

“The fact of the matter is we lacked a bit of energy today, and we’re a third a way through the season and yet to win a game at home.”

The first half for the Ryman Premier League champions started off slow as Maidenhead had a succession of corners to pile on the pressure.

But the attitude of the hosts changed in the second half as Lucien switched out to the left hand side and had a strong influence in the game before scoring in the 72nd minute.

The winger picked up the loose ball before cutting in on his right foot to curl a beautiful effort past Brett William into the bottom corner.

However the hosts’ lead only was cancelled out in the 86th minute through Tarpey, as possession was given away for the visitors to break through and score.

Bartlett knows that his side need to drown out the silly mistakes when they have possession of the ball.

He added: “We gave the ball away in the build up to the goal and it is a learning curve as we need to make sure we keep it tight and grind out the three points.

“I just felt we let it slip away, and I was very disappointed with us in possession of the ball.”

The Stones starting XI saw a number of changes from the last home game as both Joe Turner and Tom Hickey were moved to the bench.

But with Boreham Wood away next, Bartlett sees the ability to freshen up his squad as a positive, claiming there is no pessimism among his players.

He concluded: “This is a difficult league and we’ll keep plodding on, and I think we’ll get results but we just need a bit of good fortune.

“The group we have at the moment is good, and I believe the additions over the last week have certainly strengthened the squad as now it is about getting it right and making sure there is no negativity around the club.”