"We were on the back foot early, but this team always keeps battling," he said.
Ngongotahā equalised in the 21st minute when Harlem Simiona managed to knock the ball home after a goalmouth scramble. However, defensive lapses and a nightmare run of injuries for Ngongotahā meant Bucklands scored twice more to lead 3-1 at halftime.
"This is where the frustration comes from, those little mistakes and it always seems to happen when you're down the bottom.
"I had to substitute an injured player after 12 minutes, 15 minutes later the player that went on had to come off injured as well. Then Josh O'Sullivan, who took a bad knock, had to come off at halftime with a swollen knee. So we had nothing left on the bench."
He said, in the second half, the 11 players on the field were "magnificent".
"Those lads that were on actually probably had the better of the second half. They had the occasional break away, they're a very quick team. We missed two golden opportunities to equalise.
"That is how it goes. When you're down the bottom, you just can't get over the line. But it was a magnificent second half, I had guys out there basically on their knees and I couldn't make any substitutions.
"We're not getting the results that maybe our play deserves, but it's goals that win games. You can have as much effort and spirit as you like, but if you don't put the ball in the back of the net and you give away silly goals early it's going to be a hard afternoon."
Cane said Ngongotahā's focus was now on survival in NRFL Division 2, which meant they would need to target wins against teams near them at the bottom of the table. Next week they play fourth-placed Franklin United at home and he will be sweating on the fitness of several key players.
NRFL Division 2 Results
Franklin United 1-2 Takapuna (HT: 1-1)
FRA: Rinal Prasad 33'
TAK: Ahmad Al-Shamsi 43', Tommy Miller 59'
Northland 2-1 Onehunga Mangere Untied (HT: 2-0)
NOR: Thomas Fahey 6', Finn Diamond 31'
OMU: Stefan Van Der Heijden 48' (PEN)
Metro 1-3 Papakura City (HT: 0-1)
MET: Pablo Yackson Carabajal 51'
PAP: Dan Haua 25', Canaan Edwards 80', Rajnesh Sharma 90+1'
Albany United 2-4 Claudelands (HT: 1-0)
ALB: Lee Robinson 44', Andrew Mobberley 90'
CLA: Jacob Robb 46', Jackson Houlihan 54', Nik Finlay 72', David Smith 73'
Bucklands Beach 3-1 Ngongotaha (HT 3-1)
BUC: Daniel Culpan 3', Josh Smith 30', Own Goal 44'
NGO: Harlem Simona 21'
Cambridge 3-3 Te Atatu (HT: 2-3)
CAM: Josh Clarkin 7', Wayne Teague 37', Dylan Blair 76'
TEA: Rannesh Krishnan 9' 25', Ryan Sabich 13'
