"We let them back in so we were a little frustrated about how we played in the first half, actually.
"There's still more to come from us so we're not delighted. I know that sounds funny when we've just won 4-1 at home but our standards are very high," he said.
The sit-back approach of Marist didn't surprise Rovers, who had done their homework.
"We're going to get that from most sides this season because we're the champions and the team to beat so they sit very deep. You can't play football because they tend to counter in the transitional period," Greatholder said before they play away against Miramar Rangers this Saturday.
He lauded midfielder Saul Halpin and rightback Fergus Neil for making a difference since returning from their O-League campaign with Team Wellington.
Palmy coach Scott Hales said their game plan was transparent in the first half to defend and counter.
"The boys did really well and Napier had a lot of possession because we let them and that's how we like it," Hales said.
What was hard to stomach was conceding the first goal in the 25th minute to striker Angus Kilkolly following a Halpin cornerkick.
"When we sit deep they look very vulnerable on transition to defence, so halftime talk was they were too high up," he said, impressing the need for his engine room to compress Blues midfielders Ryan Tinsley and Rob Pearson.
"What we didn't recognise was the gaping hole between a back four and our midfield, which is where players like Saul Halpin, who are clever footballers at this level, will hurt you. I thought he was the difference today where he can drop into areas and play on lines that if you're not aware then he'll cause you all sorts of problems."
While disappointed, the visitors were taking nothing away from the Blues but remained defiant on what they could do in a rematch.
"We'll look forward to getting down to Memorial Park and we've got video footage so we'll analyse that to see what we can do," he said of their July 16 rematch.
Tom Biss made it 2-0 in the 61st minute when he calmly executed a pitch-wedge loop over an advancing Palmy keeper Matthew Borren.
That jolted the opposition out of a slumber as midfielder Rhys Galyer latched on to the ball in his defensive third, dribbled and bullied his way to the half way before threading a pass to striker Michael Sheridan to deftly push it past keeper Ruben Parker Hanks to narrow the lead to 2-1 just a minute later.
Halpin, showing some silky skills with Biss in one-two combinations, extended the lead to 3-1 in the 68th minute.
Schoolboy sub Ross Willox followed up on a Kilkolly cross at the far post, after Biss overran it, to make it 4-1 a minute into added time for his first league goal.
