Scotland slumped to a shocking Nations League defeat against Ireland after a dire Dublin display from Steve Clarke’s men.
And it ended the brief return of the feel good factor following the World Cup play-off defeat to Ukraine.
Clarke’s praised the way his men recovered from the heartache of missing out on a place at Qatar this winter.
But it didn’t last long as they produced a woeful performance in the Aviva Stadium and the heat is now on heading to Armenia for their next Group B1 game.
Preston’s Alan Browne and Spurs kid Troy Parrott had Stephen Kenny’s Boys In Green a couple of goals up at the break and Michael Obafemi scored a spectacular third.
It ended back to back defeats for Ireland - who were as good as the visitors were bad - but their last competitive win in Dublin came three years ago against minnows Gibraltar shows how bad this loss was for Scotland.
John Souttar and Stuart Armstrong both dropped out despite impressing in the win over Armenia as Grant Hanley and Scott McTominay came in.
Ireland were under pressure after back to back defeats but started on the front foot as Scotland struggled to get going.
A lapse in concentration from former Celtic flop Shane Duffy gifted the visitors a great chance but John McGinn couldn’t punish Ireland as his shot was saved by Caoimhin Kelleher.
Brighton stopper Duffy, though, was effective at the other end as he had a hand in Ireland’s 20th minute opener.
James McClean sent a corner deep into the penalty area and Duffy headed it into the danger area and as the Scotland defence failed to react, Browne was alert to knock it home.
Scotland’s best chances came from mistakes from Ireland in particular Duffy who gifted Scotland - and McGinn - another opportunity.
The sloppy stopper’s careless play at the back presented the Aston Villa man with a glorious chance but he squandered it, shooting wide.
And Scotland were punished as Ireland went up the other end and doubled their lead just before the half hour.
Obafemi lofted a brilliant ball over the Scotland defence and Parrott got in behind to head beyond the advancing Craig Gordon.
Duffy could have added a third if it wasn’t for Gordon after the defender again beat Jack Hendry to a corner but the Hearts keeper denied him.
That was enough to see Hendry stay inside at the break as Billy Gilmour replaced the Club Brugge man.
Yet it went from bad to worse as Swansea's Obafemi netted a screamer before an unbelievable goalline clearance prevented Scott Hogan from adding a fourth with a VAR check required to make sure it hadn't gone over.
Armstrong, Jacob Brown and Ross Stewart were all on by that point but it was all about damage limitation.
Here’s three talking points from Dublin
Sobering defeat for Clarke and Scotland
This was a performance more like the early days under Clarke when he was just getting to grips with the size of the task he had taken on.
If predecessor Alex McLeish had been in charge of a performance like this then major questions would have been asked.
Leading the nation to Euro 2020 means there is credit in the bank for Clarke but he can't afford many more displays like this.
The bounce was seemingly back in the national team after that World Cup play-off defeat to Ukraine.
Maybe too much was made of the Hampden win over an extremely limited Armenia side as they just weren’t at the races here.
Kenny went into this game under huge pressure after back to back defeats but there could be a bit of heat on Clarke with this coming so soon after the meek Ukraine display.
Scotland head to Yerevan where Ireland suffered with high temperatures recently and anything other than a victory in Armenia on Tuesday and they are in serious trouble.
McGinn fails to make amends
Speaking pre-match, John McGinn vowed to avenge his missed sitter in the World Cup play-off defeat against Ukraine at Hampden.
But the Aston Villa man had two great opportunities to do exactly that - and squandered both.
Midfielder McGinn was gifted possession by Shane Duffy on two occasions but couldn’t capitalise.
The first was straight at Caoimhin Kelleher and McGinn should have hit the second target with his second chance when he shot wide in a wasted opportunity.
Duffy dozy at one end, causing havoc at the other
The fact Gary Breen was working as a pundit was ironic after he predicted Shane Duffy would be too good for Scottish football when he joined Celtic on loan.
Breen was left with egg on his face as the defender flopped at Parkhead during a disastrous season.
And there was evidence here of why it went so badly for the 30-year-old during his time at his boyhood heroes.
Duffy twice gifted Scotland golden chances to score but he was let off the hook as they failed to take them.
However, as sloppy as he was at one end the Derry man was a real threat in the opposition penalty box.
It was Duffy’s header from a corner that led to the opening goal and he was denied a goal himself by Craig Gordon.
