Chester FC Women's manager Martin Fitzsimons was speaking after Sunday's game, in which the Blues fell to a 9-0 defeat to Stockport County in the FA Cheshire County cup.
The Seals were torn apart on the day and FItzsimons viewed this as a lesson for his team, with many things to learn from a side two leagues above Chester.
"It was a good wake-up call today to see the standard that we’re striving to get towards and that actually we’re still quite a way off that," he said. "There’s still a lot of hard work to be done to be able to kick on and go up the leagues.
"I think they were a very good team and credit to them and I think on the day the best team got the result.”
Chester battled well in the first half, with a big chance to go 1-0 up and a controversial offside call put them a goal down inside 25 minutes.
The gaffer was happy with the opening the Seals made to the game and their first-half performance, however, he was disappointed with the reaction that followed.
"I don’t think we disgraced ourselves as much as the scoreline suggests," he said. "I felt like we matched them to be honest, we executed the game plan really, really well.
"We had a chance on the break, (Rachel) Lever hit the bar. Then from that first goal going in, we felt that it was offside and those are the calls that go against you sometimes. From that point, heads dropped and we couldn’t get ourselves out of it.”
Another positive that FItzsimons took from the game was the debut of new signing Anna Jones.
Jones signed from Welsh Premier League side Llandudno Ladies FC, and made an impressive impact off the bench in the second half.
"She looked really, really well," he said. "She gives us something different.
"She’s a good runner with the ball, looks like she can beat a player and try and get some crosses into the box as well which is something we don’t really have at the minute. It was good to get her on the pitch.”
Jones and the rest of the Chester players will be looking for a big reaction this Sunday when the Blues take on Didsbury in the league.
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