St Cuthbert Wanderers boss Josh Gardner blasted his players after they slumped out of the Potts Cup.
The Kirkcudbright side were beaten 3-0 by Stranraer in a ‘home’ game at Dumfries High School, Harry Mitchell grabbing all three goals for the visitors.
And Gardner was furious with the display from his side, refusing to use the fact they’d had a fortnight off as an excuse.
He said: “It wasn’t good enough and we got exactly what we deserved. Stranraer were well worth the victory. We were completely off it the full day. It was quite disappointing because it’s not the start we’ve had to the year.
“We massively let ourselves down. Performance levels were way below where they should be.
“I thought Stranraer were rusty too but everything else was there for them in terms of work-rate.
“You can use that excuse too much, we were miles off where we should be. Effort levels were poor, every single aspect of the game was way below where it should have been.”
Saints had to make do without on-loan Queen of the South trio Cammy Shaw, Kane Paton and Konar Pietsch but Gardner was reluctant to use that as an excuse.
He said: “It was a huge difference and we missed them a lot but it shouldn’t show that much.
“There was enough quality in the squad that should have stepped up to the mark.
“The result would have been different if they’d put in the performance I thought they could.
“They’ve let themselves down, the club down and the fans down and it’s up to us to pick it back up again.
“Our captain, John Renwick, broke his nose as well and will miss training this week. There was more than enough on the park to get a result, we just didn’t perform.”
Saints are away this weekend when they travel to Abbey Vale in the Utility Hut South of Scotland League.
And they’ll be up against a side also coming off the back of a 3-0 defeat after Vale lost 3-0 at Creetown.
Gardner added: “We’ll need to be at it against Abbey Vale as they’re a good side. It’s all about the reaction now.
“You’re hoping those levels are there because that doesn’t go rusty. You can always make sure you put in 100 per cent – the outcome of that may be different week on week but you can still put in 100 per cent regardless.”
