EFFINGHAM dropped to seventh in London Two South West with a home defeat to Guildford on Saturday.
Director of rugby Dominic Cornwell admitted that the visitors played the conditions better than his side.
He said: "The conditions were terrible, it was cold, wet and drizzly all day and it was never easy to play in but it was the same for both sides and Guildford played the conditions better than we did.
"We just didn't play as well as we should have done and we're disappointed by that."
The away side scored four tries to the Eagles' two, the bonus point try coming right at the death as Effingham pressured the Guildford line in an attempt to force a way back into the game.
Cornwell admitted that Guildford were the better side though. He added: "If it had ended 23-19 then perhaps we would have felt a bit better about it. They soaked up a lot of pressure from us, their defence was very strong and we knocked on at crucial times.
"We made a lot of mistakes and we should have scored another try at the end, but in the dark it was held up and they ran the length of the field to get their fourth try.
"We didn't help ourselves, we could and should have scored earlier, but Guildford were the better side on the day, they played the better rugby and we didn't play our normal game."
The Eagles were not helped by having a number of players missing for the clash, with their front row requiring a re-jig at the last minute.
Cornwell said: "Charlie Compson split his head open in a freak accident at training and required stitches, so we were missing him and then Ed Thornton went down with a stomach virus, added to the fact that we were already missing Dom Young, Ollie Rees and Marcus Smith.
"That doesn't help, but we know we have played a lot better and it's very frustrating knowing that and not delivering."
Effingham travel to Camberley for their next league fixture on December 8 following a week's break.