Halifax fell behind to Lewis Walker’s third minute opener before a Sam Johnson own goal and another from Walker sealed the result.
“Started incredibly poorly with a goal after two-and-a-half minutes, allowed the ball to come into the box too easily, he’s got in-between and it’s a good header,” said Lakeland.
“But you can’t allow the ball to come in the box so easily and it was the same for the second goal as well.
“They’ve got in down the right, crossed it – it’s a really, really poor goal.
“I imagine it’s the worst goal you’ll see conceded today in the National League, that’s how poor it was.
“Between the first and the second goals, I thought we played some decent stuff, had a couple of little moments.
“Hmami’s flashed one past the post, we had a couple of penalty appeals. The one on Will Harris, off the corner, if that’s anywhere else on the pitch, it’s a free-kick, so why it’s not a penalty I don’t know.
“We said at half-time, if we could score the next goal the game could change and we felt we’d have plenty in the tank left later on.
“I felt we played some really good football in the first-half of that second-half, created a really good opportunity for Will Harris and it was an unbelievable block from the lad.
“If that goes in, it’s 2-1 and it changes the game and the whole mood in the ground.
“Then we concede a really unnecessary third goal. Sam had been nothing but a spectator but we concede a really poor free-kick, fail to clear our lines and it’s 3-0 and the game’s done.
“So, very frustrating.”
Lakeland admitted the soft manner of Braintree’s goals made his side look weak.
“They made us look fragile, weak, individually and collectively,” he said.
“If you get carved open or it’s a well-worked set-play or an absolute banger of a goal, then sometimes you have to hold your hands up, but the goals we’ve conceded are just really poor goals.
“Every credit to Braintree, they took advantage of our sloppiness.”
Lakeland added: “The reality is if you don’t defend those situations and you don’t stop the ball coming in your box, you don’t defend the ball with more authority and aggression, and dominance, when it does come in your box, then you’re going to concede goals.
“And you see some of the defending from their lads to stop us getting in, stop the ball coming in the box from crosses, intercepting crosses, blocking and throwing their bodies on the line, we could learn a bit from some of their defending.”
Town’s bad day was rounded off when Will Harris missed a penalty in added time.
“It summed it up, didn’t it?,” Lakeland said.
“There’s a lot of frustration and obviously we’re all really disappointed because the goals are really soft.
“But I felt there was a lot of positives throughout the play today.
“I think a lot of the stuff we’ve spoken about and looked at throughout pre-season, I saw evidence of that in our play for long periods.
“I felt we played some great football and got into some really good positions, and created some opportunities, and just failed to be ruthless.
“But you’ve got to do that whilst taking charge of moments when the opposition have those break-outs.
“Let’s be honest, Sam had nothing to do other than pick the ball out of his net three times.
“He should have done better with the second goal.
“I’ll probably get hammered for saying it but I think there were a lot of positives for us to take, considering we’ve lost 3-0, but that’s what I believe.
“I think the scoreline is harsh but we can only blame ourselves for that.
“I thought some individual performances were outstanding; Cody Johnson ran the game, Will Hugill was outstanding and there were others who had decent games, and some who need to do better.”
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