Jim McIntyre felt Cove Rangers delivered a performance worthy of being bottom of the league against Ayr United.
Cove struggled in all facets of the game on Saturday and were lucky to escape with a 2-1 scoreline after the visitors missed numerous good chances.
That it was 0-0 at half-time was scarcely believable, after Dipo Akinyemi, Mark McKenzie and Sam Ashford all had chances to open the scoring.
They did go ahead on 58 minutes when Cove defender Mark Reynolds was punished for handball and Ben Dempsey scored from the spot.
Akinyemi got his name on the scoresheet 10 minutes later and only a stoppage-time penalty from Jamie Masson got Cove on the board.
McIntyre pulled no punches in his assessment of a dismal day at the office.
“It’s hard to be positive about any part of it. It simply wasn’t good enough from start to finish,” said McIntyre. “I thought Ayr bossed the game. They won nearly every one of their individual battles and that’s not good enough from our point of view.
“We were lucky the scoreline was what it was. They could have been two or three goals up at half-time. We’re expecting a reaction after half-time but it’s much of the same.
“That’s a performance that I’ve certainly not seen coming. It’s completely different to last reaction to last week, where we came out in the second half and showed a real spirit.
“Today it wasn’t there and that’s concerning, considering we’re at home and this is where we need to make fixtures as difficult as possible.
“It’s hard to put your finger on it. It was 4-4-2 v 4-4-2 and it was about making sure that you were better than the guy in your position. We didn’t have that anywhere and that’s a concern. Being at home it was flat as a pancake. They deserved the victory, there’s no beating around the bush.
“There’s nothing positive to take from the game. That performance will always take you to the bottom of the league and if you have too many of them then you’re going to struggle to compete.”
Ashford had a header early doors which he felt crossed the line but was not given before Akinyemi thundered an effort off the crossbar. Mark McKenzie blazed over when he should have hit the target.
It was a warning Cove did not heed and they went behind through Dempsey’s spot-kick after Reynolds had been adjudged to have handled Daire O’Connor’s cross.
Ayr’s second came when Ashford’s ball was allowed to travel across the Cove penalty area to the unmarked Akinyemi, who prodded it past Kyle Gourlay.
There was little reaction from McIntyre’s side and it took until stoppage-time to threaten, with Masson scoring from the spot after Gerry McDonagh had been fouled by Jordan Houston.
To compound Cove’s misery, they lost three players to injury. Scott Ross went off in the first half, Mitch Megginson had to be replaced at half-time and Reynolds pulled up late on.
“Mitch has been feeling his hamstring – we feel it might be coming from his back so we’ll get a look into that,” added McIntyre. “We don’t know whether he’s damaged his hamstring or not.
“Mark Reynolds felt his groin and that it was going to go, so we took him off as a precaution as we don’t want to risk putting him out for six weeks.
“Scott got a real sore one, more of a kick on his foot. It’s more of an impact one so hopefully that’s not too long.”
COVE RANGERS (4-4-2) – Gourlay 6; Logan 6, Ross 5 (Neill 31), Reynolds 5 (Masson 75), Dunne 5, Leitch 6 (McIntosh 67) Gilmour 5, Vigurs 5 (Longstaff 67), Scully 6, Fyvie 5, Megginson 5 (McDonagh 46). Subs not used – McKenzie, Thomas.
AYR UNITED (4-2-3-1) – Albinson 6; Houston 6, Kirk 6, Musonda 6, Reading 6, Dempsey 7, Murdoch 6, O’Connor 7 (Ecrepont 88) McKenzie 7 (McGinty 90), Ashford 7 (Bangala 87), Akinyemi 7. Subs not used – Smith, Moffat, McAllister, McConnell, Hewitt, Bilham.
Referee – Scott Lambie 6
Attendance – 951
Man of the match – Daire O’Connor