Sounds like you gave up on yourself before the examiner did.
A lot of folks on this board have seen a lot of examiners. Let's see, I've been through ten so far. I have seen good and what I will call bad, but the one thing all these folks have in common is a measuring stick that has two scales on it. Every single one of my examiners has stressed that Safety of flight is their number one goal - no matter what else - the checkride and all my future performance will be predicated on my ability to be safe. The second scale was the PTS. Now the good and bad in my opinion was in the application of the PTS but nobody has ever expected me to exceed the limits as written in the PTS. I was dismayed when on one manuever, the PTS gave me -0ft and +100ft and I flew to -5ft and +50ft ending up in a bust - now that was one tough examiner who explained his thinking that the floor I went through was a safety issue - he would have given me -0 to +200 in his mind (explained later) but a bust below was a bust. I was more angry at my CFI for not having insight into this examiner and for maybe not stressing the importance of nailing this altitude.
The PTS lays everything out for your ride. So review the ride in your head and ask yourself how many items did you nail and how many did the examiner let slide? He also may have done you a favor by failing you on a "technicality". You seem to think its trivial - he may have made it easy for you to get your licence since you only have to return and do the one "trivial" maneuver. This is much better than having a laundry list of items on your pink slip. What if you messed up your stalls, your soft field landings and your diversion manuevers (ala the PTS) but he only brings you back to do a Soft Field landing. That's a gift!
Also, please remember that the PTS requires the examiner to attempt to distract the candidate from performing some function. I know one of my examiners did just what you are talking about - it drove me crazy as he was questioning me about my technique for performing a maneuver - I started second guessing but ultimately just stuck to my guns and said "No, this is what I have to do and everything is right". He later congratulated me on sticking to my guns - he laughed that about 90% of the folks fall for the distraction but he never fails anyone for taking the bait.
Checkrides are extremely stressful events. It's hard to have a perfect ride and most folks don't. I'm luckier than most in only getting two pink slips in my career yet the airline I work for still seems to think that I'm a good pilot - in fact, at our airline, they like the fact that most of us have failed at one time and learned from our mistakes - including getting a little taste of humility that comes with being flawed. I feel a lot safer sitting next to a guy who doesn't think of himself as a divine inspiration to the flying world - send me a guy or gal who questions my judgement and doublechecks that frequency.
Now let's say that you do end up with that Private Pilot certificate from Attila the Hun. Are you a worse pilot or a better pilot for getting a ticket with the nastiest examiner's signature on it? There's many an airport where you would be legendary - like my CFI ticket. I remember afterward. "You took your ride with ____?", folks at the flight school asked. "...and you passed?" "How many rechecks did it take?" was the next question. Everyone knew I basically went up against a dragon and ultimately won the battle. Sometimes a pink slip is a badge of honor.
If you are now a holder of a PPL certificate, be proud, hold your head up and strut around a little. You did it. Revenge and jealousy are too petty of emotions for pilots - we're above all that.
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