Moore said individuals made some poor tackling errors in the final stages of the game, and they had to look at themselves.
"It was a poor last 10 minutes, really. Some very basic decisions around defence really cost us badly. Some of them were really basic ones, so it is very disappointing," Moore said.
With the Highlanders leading 22-20 with just over 10 minutes to go, a defensive wall that had stood reasonably sound for most of the afternoon parted, and three tries were rattled in by the Force.
Replacement halfback Justin Turner strolled in after replacement back Sam Harris went past a couple of ineffective Highlanders tackles in the backline.
Force midfield back Ryan Cross then ran a great angle to break the defence and score under the posts and that was repeated by the returning Cameron Shepherd, who dotted down with a couple of minutes to go to complete a fine first game back from injury.
It was due reward for the visiting side which dominated both territory and possession for large periods of the game, and should have been further ahead but for some good Highlanders defence and wrong options.
"We did not have good territory in the first half and we spoke about that at halftime about getting the ball and hanging on to it.
Once we hung on to it we were confident the tries would come and that did happen," Moore said.
"They had something like 15 minutes in our 22 in the first half and we defended our line pretty well ... but that 10 minutes ended up costing us."
Moore said losing Israel Dagg before the game was a big blow, as he was a key player, and had been kicking well.
"I though Ben Smith played well out there today and he is a real talent. Our back three have been going really well and have been lethal at times. Injuries happen, and we've got about six at the moment. It is pretty average stuff but you've got to battle through that."
Dagg strained a groin in Queenstown at training on Friday and is expected to be out between two and four weeks.
Moore was down to the bare bones on Saturday, with just 22 fit players in the squad.
Also out injured are Nasi Manu (knee), Tom Donnelly (ankle), Jamie Mackintosh (toe), Michael Hobbs (thigh) and John Hardie (knee).
The Highlanders have the bye, coming at a good time with the number of players injured, this week.
After that, there is a tricky run home with games against the Hurricanes at Carisbrook and the Waratahs in Invercargill, before two games in Australia, against the Brumbies and the Reds.
The Highlanders will need to lift their game, because they seemed half asleep at times on Saturday.
One wonders how different the story would have been if Fetu'u Vainikolo had scored a try after nine minutes.
He was over the line but the ball was knocked out by a covering David Pocock.
That tackle was praised afterwards by Force coach John Mitchell.
He said they had talked about desperation in defence, and Pocock set the benchmark.
Mitchell said getting experienced players back obviously helped and said the injection of players from the bench was crucial as their energy lifted the side.
Young fullback James O'Connor showed some quality touches for the team, while David Hill was a steady first five-eighth.
For the Highlanders, Smith looked a dangerous runner, although he was felled by an ugly attempted charge-down by Force halfback Chris O'Young, late in the first half.
Adam Thomson tried hard and Chris King was solid in his 50th game.
