Both of you do not seem very confident to make an attack on the first presentable possible chance. That is both good and bad.
Why rush into a failure? Why make an attack when you can play a safe ball the opponent will likely not attack? Those are arguments for waiting for a better ball to attack. Continuing to make a poor quality push that gives your opponents an easy chance to attack decisively is a path to failure usually. Relying on a "Push and Hope" tactic will not win you many matches. One must discover one's balance point of playing safe and taking initiative. It is an individual thing than can be changing. If you do not train to be changing this balance point towards becoming able to successfully anticipate and make a quality attack on the first chance, you will likely be stuck at your level. None of us wants that. We have to work on being solid in defense and the first to make a good quality attacking shot. That is the path of a flexible OFF player in general. Nnow if you want to be an allround or defensive player, working on those things still gives you a lot of value, but you are relying on giving your opponent chances that look great, but are not as good as they look. That is fine as well, given that you decide to play with such a style. A block or a chop can still be an OFF shot if done in a suitable manner. As much as an ultimate attacking wannbe I am, in real competition matches, I win a HUGE amount of points by being steady on defense or simply staying in the point. I want to credit any win I achieve to being an offensive juggernaut, but it doesn't work that way at my level, 7 levels below me, or several levels above me.
Pushing an easy ball back... That is the way pretty much both of you went. Remember, whoever opens attack with some quality first usually wins the point. At some point, you will have to open the offense with more confidence, higher quality, and earlier than your opponent. At first, your match play will suffer while you adapt to opening earlier, but it will make you a lot stronger player later. You have to make a choice on how you want to grow as a player, but at most levels, pushing an easy ball back high to middle of table invites death of the point, even vs an inconsistent player.