"It was a good spectator spectacular, however the shoe was on the other foot [after Northland beat Hawke's Bay after the final hooter at Toll Stadium] and we couldn't hold out.
"We summarised the game in the changing room after, we've still got a lot of heart there, some teams would have crumbled under the pressure we were put under throughout the game," Witcombe said.
"Execution is what let us down, but if you flip that over it's a positive in that we're in control of improving.
"There's a good feeling in the group and we're keeping our feet on the ground. We're not down and glum, we know what we need to do, six points on the road in the space of four days away from home is good."
While chuffed to be sat atop the table, Witcombe was quick to reinforce the season's goal of making the semifinals.
He said it was a nice reward for the team but the job was far from done.
"That's lovely, that's outstanding, however we're not focusing on that - our goal is to make the semis. We need to keep building.
"It's not perfect for us yet, which is great, we're hard on each other and honest so the feeling is good and we all know we're not there yet."
Witcombe was happy with how his side had handled the short turnaround, adding it was never an issue.
Fuelling that sense of happiness for Witcombe was the lack of injured players Northland was having to care for.
However, from Saturday's match, tackling machine Jack Ram has picked up a hamstring injury and could be out for between two and four weeks.
Ram joins Winston Stanley (thumb) and Matt Talaese (knee) on the sidelines, however Talaese is expected to be back within a few weeks.
Jone Macilai was unavailable for the Southland game but was expected to be fit for Thursday's match against Taranaki at Toll Stadium.
After Saturday's game, Taniwha captain Cam Eyre explained to Sky Sport viewers his side backed their defence in the closing stages - opting for a touch finder rather than holding the ball inside their 22 for the final minute.
Eyre added they were a little slack in some areas, mainly in chasing their tactical kicks.
"That last phase we could have held it but we backed our defence," he said. "Our kick chase wasn't good enough and they hurt us there.
"It's heart breaking [to lose in the final play of the game like they did] and the shoe's on the other foot. [However], tomorrow is another day and we'll get back on the horse against Taranaki."
