Threave Rovers gaffer Vinnie Parker believes his side was “massively unlucky” to go out of the West of Scotland League Cup on Saturday.
The fourth division side came up against second division leaders Renfrew in the second round.
And it was the higher ranked side who progressed, with goals from Jamie Benton, Dominic Innes and Scott Morton sending Renfrew through.
Parker said: “I thought we were massively unlucky.
“From the outside, it looks like a 3-0 loss but if you were watching or involved it certainly wasn’t a 3-0 game.
“I thought we were the better side, especially in the first half. In the first 10 or 15 minutes we were on top, created five or six brilliant chances and their goalkeeper had two or three unbelievable saves.
“We were pretty solid at the back and everyone played really well.
“It was just that five minute spell in the second half that killed us.
“We switched off. Their first goal was a decent goal, the boy had a good run, it’s a good delivery and it’s a decent finish.
“The second goal we switched off at their throw-in and allowed them in one-on-one and the third is a penalty when we’re chasing the game.
“You can’t be too critical.
“At 2-0 with 15 minutes to go I felt we still had a chance.
“If we’d got one goal it would have opened it up a bit more but the third goal cemented it.
“There’s nothing between the two teams and over the 90 minutes we were more than worthy of winning the game.”
Threave had knocked first division Thorniewood United out of the first round of the cup and Parker believes playing teams from higher divisions suits his side.
He added: “We’re a footballing team and the further up the divisions we go the more other teams like to play as well.
“It suits us when people try to play against us.”
Threave return to fourth division action this weekend with Glenvale visiting Castle Douglas.
The sides met on the opening day of the season, Threave running out 5-1 winners on their West of Scotland League debut.
But Parker warned: “We know what we’re facing but they ran Glenafton close in the cup on Saturday and I think Glenafton’s winner was slightly
dubious.
“Their tails will be up so it’ll be another tough test.
“When the second games come around we know what we’ll be up against.
“When we entered the league we didn’t know who we were playing until a few weeks before the season started so we’ve been finding out the hard way what teams are like.”
