Rhys McCabe admits Airdrie suffered from their own mistakes and lacked quality in the defeat against Falkirk.
The Diamonds’ six-game unbeaten run against their League One rivals ended after goals from Callumn Morrison and Aidan Keena.
Steven Hetherington’s sending off on 44 minutes left Falkirk with a full half to defend their two-goal advantage.
Gabby McKay pulled a goal back just five minutes into the second half but an equaliser proved elusive and McCabe was frustrated that Airdrie failed to take advantage.
“You’ve got to show your experience,” It’s a long 45 minutes and I’ve been there before myself - it’s tiring on the legs
“You can't panic and you need to be composed. I thought that we were in the second half because we created a lot of overlaps in the wide areas.
“We lacked a bit in terms of quality and delivery. We’ve lost due to two mistakes of our own.
“They are mistakes that are avoidable and that’s the frustrating thing. It’s not like they came here and beat us comfortably.
Airdrie produced a controlled first half performance until a crazy three minute spell when they conceded two goals.
The Diamonds looked comfortable until then and McCabe believes it left Airdrie with a mountain to climb after such a positive start.
“It really changes the momentum of the game,” the 29-year-old added. “You are always fighting an uphill battle when you give a team a two-goal lead.
“Their possession style play was always in their own half and they never really cut us open.
"The defence was comfortable and in the midfield, Dylan, Adam and I had it down to a tee.
“Everything was in front of us in the first half so it was a real disappointment that we lost the two goals.
“We played well and used the ball well in the second half but we were unlucky not to get another goal.”
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