Cove Rangers manager Jim McIntyre accepted his side lacked a cutting edge in the final third as they were knocked out of the SPFL Trust Trophy by holders Raith Rovers.
Connor McBride’s early strike proved to be enough to see Cove fall at the first hurdle, having reached the semi-finals of the competition last season.
A Mitch Megginson double helped Cove defeat Raith 2-0 on the opening day of the Championship season but there was to be no repeat on this occasion.
The Cove captain started on the bench as McIntyre made nine changes from the team that drew 2-2 against Partick Thistle the previous weekend thanks to a late Mark Reynolds brace.
The Cove manager said: “We started the game really well in the first 15 to 20 minutes and I thought Raith scored against the run of the play.
“It was really poor defending as we didn’t match our runner in the box.
“We created a couple of good chances and so did they. It was a case of missed opportunities by both teams.
“We had plenty of the game but without having that killer touch.
“We had some wasted passes when we got into some really good areas.
‘Teams created chances but didn’t show the ruthless side’
“We got caught on the counter-attack a couple of times because we had a lot of the ball.
“They were also wasteful – it was a game where both teams created chances but didn’t show the ruthless side.”
It was an ominous start for Cove when they fell behind with only 11 minutes clock when former Blackburn Rovers midfielder McBride fired beyond Stuart McKenzie after good wing play by Quinn Coulson.
Cove almost mustered an immediate response when left back Cieran Dunne sent a tantalising delivery across goal but no home player was able to apply the finishing touch.
Raith were inches away from doubling their advantage when Ethan Ross hit the post after a well-worked free kick.
The hosts also went agonisingly close just before half time when the unmarked Morgyn Neill nodded wide from another Dunne cross.
Cove upped the ante after the break and had the ball in the net when Luis Longstaff, impressive on the right wing, found the target only for the strike to be chalked off for offside.
Raith felt they should have had a penalty when Coulson tumbled in the area following a collision with Dunne but referee Gavin Duncan waved play on.
Positives to take from game
But it was Cove who were in the ascendancy with Neill again causing problems in the Raith penalty area with another header cleared off the line before Connor Scully curled a shot over as they pressed for an equaliser.
The visitors remained dangerous on the break with McKenzie called upon to keep out a low drive from on-loan Aberdeen defender Kieran Ngwenya with Kyle Connell firing over from the resulting corner when he really should have scored.
Iain Vigurs passed up a great chance to restore parity when his shot flew over the crossbar after some superb play from Longstaff.
Raith held on to progress to the fourth round but Cove boss McIntyre felt there were positives to take from the encounter.
He said: “The pick of the bunch for me was Max Johnston. I thought he was really good at right back.
“Longstaff had moments in the game where he showed what he did against Partick last week.
“You can see he has real quality and we are trying to get him more of the ball so he can be in the game more often.
“Getting Blair Yule back in from the start was really good for us and getting 80 minutes under his belt will do him the world of good.
“It is great to have him back. I wanted to rest a couple of my key players and we also had a couple of injuries.
“Those boys have been flogged a bit in those first few games of the season so it gave me a chance to look at the players who are on the fringes and desperate to get in the team.
“From that side I’m pleased but you are never pleased when you lose a game.”
COVE RANGERS (4-3-3) – McKenzie 6, Johnston 7, Neill 7, Reynolds 6, Dunne 7; Yule 6 (Leitch 77), Vigurs 6, Scully 6; Longstaff 7, McDonagh 6 (Masson 65), McIntosh 6 (Megginson 76). Subs not used: Gourlay, Logan, Thomas.
RAITH ROVERS (4-5-1) – Thomson 6, Millen 7, O’Riordan 7, Dick 7, Ngwenya 6 (Nolan 77); McBride 7 (Easton 74), Coulson 7, Brown 6, Spencer 6 (Matthews 82), Ross 6 (Connolly 82); Connell 6 (Mitchell 82). Subs not used: MacDonald, Masson.
REFEREE: Gavin Duncan 6
ATTENDANCE: 405
MAN OF THE MATCH: Connor O’Riordan
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