Dalbeattie Star boss Jordan Williamson has called on his players to be switched on from kick-off.
The Islecroft side lost 5-2 to Rangers B on Saturday, having been 4-0 down at half-time.
And while happy with the progression from the start of the season, Williamson knows his team needs to start games better.
He said: “We need to stop the habit of the game being by us before half-time. It’s three games out of six where we have faced a massive uphill battle going into the second half. We need to stamp that out as we’ve seen if we can get to half-time and reorganise off the back of how we approach the first half, we’re capable of mixing it up.
“If we can start to stop those lapses in concentration through the middle of the first half we’re going to be in a better position.
“We can see the boys are starting to gel and are becoming a tighter knit group. For us to see the progression to win that second half 2-1 is a big positive for us.
“In that last hour, once we got to grips with what we were up against and how they were working, I thought we did really well. For us to go and win the second half shows we are making progression and it’s these sort of things we need to look at to build on.”
Rangers’ youngster Zak Lovelace scored a hat-trick in little more than half an hour, Arron Lyall also scoring in the first half as the visitors enjoyed a 4-0 lead at the interval.
Paul Murphy, who has arrived on loan from Kilburnie Ladeside ahead of a potential permanent move, marked his Star debut with a goal in the second half and Gospel Ocholi also found the net as Star reduced the gap.
Charlie Lindsay sealed things for Rangers with a late penalty, although the visitors were reduced to 10 men before the end.
Murphy isn’t the only recent arrival, with Liam Kelly and Harry Emmerson signing permanently after featuring as trialists.
Williamson said: “Paul is club captain at Kilburnie and a deal has been agreed for a permanent transfer in a month. The loan is just for both parties to ensure it works.
“He brings a wealth of experience and is starting to demand higher standards of the boys. He’s a massive addition.
“We’re delighted to have Liam’s services as he gives us a very direct dynamic up front. He’s strong, tall, physical, can stretch defenders and also hold the ball up.
“Harry had signed with his university team but his circumstances have changed and he’s decided to sign with us alongside his degree. We’re happy to have him in - I had him at Annan and I’m looking forward to working with him again.”
Williamson added: “We can use the experience of what we’ve come up against and roll it straight into the next game rather than changing our approach by playing someone else in between. It might help us as we can use that last 45 minutes and progress it into this weekend’s fixture.”
