Shay Logan pulled no punches in his assessment of Cove’s performance in their 4-2 defeat to East Fife at Bayview, describing it as “rubbish”.
Cove went into the weekend’s encounter joint top of League One, while their hosts were scratching around at the other end of the division.
But the tables were turned in Fife with Darren Young’s home side absolutely ruthless in front of goal.
Logan said: “It was rubbish.
“We didn’t stick to the game plan in the first half.
“We’ve had a certain game plan over the past three weeks and in the first half we didn’t do it and were punished.
“In every game you play, you have to earn the right to win, no matter who you’re playing.
“We didn’t do that.
“It was bottom of the league against top of the league and we got punished.
“Even though we had most of the possession and were the better team overall, we still got what we deserved, because you can’t start a game like that.
“The go in 3-0 up at half-time, but then we get an early goal and concede again within two minutes of that – you wouldn’t see that in a Sunday league game.
“So we just have to dust ourselves off.
“We beat East Fife 5-2 at home, so we knew we could score goals against them. The aim in the second half was to come out and get an early goal, which we did.
“And then that happens and it sets us back again.”
The Fifers started the game really well and were soon ahead when Aaron Steele met a Connor McManus corner and powered his header beyond Stuart McKenzie.
Cove were rattled and the Fifers took full advantage, making it 2-0 just a couple of minutes later thanks to Kyle Connell’s sublime effort from 25 yards.
It wasn’t entirely one-way traffic and East Fife goalie Jude Smith pulled off a decent stop from a Jamie Masson drive.
But any hopes Cove had of getting back into the game suffered a severe dent on the stroke of half-time when Scott Mercer’s free-kick found the top corner.
If Cove were to get anything from the game they really needed to make a quick start to the second half.
They did exactly that, making it 3-1 only a couple of minutes after the re-start thanks to Robbie Leitch’s effort.
Cove suddenly had a lifeline and all hope wasn’t lost.
They shot themselves in the foot, though, minutes after scoring by allowing East Fife to restore their three-goal lead through Connell again.
Paul Hartley’s side continued to create plenty of chances and took one on 74 minutes, with Morgyn Neill heading home.
The Cove boss admitted it had been a poor afternoon all round.
He said: “I’m disappointed, our attitude to the game wasn’t great.
“We didn’t give ourselves a chance and the four goals we conceded were terrible.
“We had enough play, but we didn’t have enough quality.
“We have to do better as a team.
“It doesn’t matter who you’re playing in the league. East Fife are bottom, but every game is tough.
“If your attitude and work ethic aren’t spot on then you’ll get done.”