Joseph said he was pleased with parts of the game from his side but he could not explain why the side put on such a hectic performance last night.
"To be honest, I'm quite disappointed with the way we played. There was a lot of dropped ball and it is really important that you show respect for the ball and we didn't at times," Joseph said.
"They defended quite well but when we broke them, we couldn't finish and if we couldn't break them, then we did not keep it going.
"It was like at times we were out playing conditioning games at Logan Park."
He felt too many players looked for an impossible pass or tried to move the ball on when it was simply not on.
The Cheetahs had a rushing defence which left space on the outside but the Highlanders failed to exploit it enough.
"But, like I've said, to be grumpy and still win must be good."
Joseph praised the loose forwards' effort and felt they linked well.
Colin Slade showed some nice touches and Joseph wast encouraged by his performance but warned he was a long way from his best form and it would take time to get there.
Loose forward Adam Thomson, who picked up two tries, felt maturity in the team that sealed the win.
He said perhaps the side was too guilty of getting excited near the line.
"Maybe we were ...just pushing the pass too many times. It could have been better to build a bit more pressure," Thomson said.
"It was heart-in-the-mouth stuff there at the end and it would have been good to come away with a comfortable 10 point victory ... but this is a different team, who know how to close games down, now."
