Elgin City manager Gavin Price read the riot act to his players after they bowed out of the North of Scotland Cup against Rothes for the second year on the spin.
Although eight changes were made from their heroic effort in a nine-man 2-2 draw at Forfar Athletic last weekend, it was still a strong City line-up which took to the Mackessack Park pitch against the holders.
An early strike from Aidan Wilson was added to by ex-Elgin midfielder Jake Thomson.
Greg Morrison was denied a third thanks to a goal-line clearance by Darryl McHardy, allowing Brian Cameron to rifle back to 2-1 just before the break.
Morrison headed Rothes 3-1 ahead in the second half and Chris Antoniazzi’s superb strike was not enough for the League 2 visitors, who host Stranraer on Saturday.
Price felt let down by his team as they they slipped to defeat at the same venue and the same stage of the competition.
He said: “We lost the game in the first half. The chances we created were alarming to say the least.
“We have left ourselves too much to do. We should have had enough from the players who started the game and we should have had better control of the tie.
“It’s disappointing. Boys have had their chance to stake their claim, but – in a lot of instances – didn’t do so.
“We were always going to have one eye on the game against Stranraer on Saturday, you could see that with the players we left out, but all credit to Rothes.
“They gave us a lot of problems in the first half and we didn’t deal with it. We just couldn’t find a way to get an equaliser.”
Elgin punished by ruthless Rothes
Price felt his team were not up to the standards required to get through the midweek tie against more than capable Highland League hosts.
He said: “We scored two good goals, but we cannot defend the way we did. We have to do so much better and treat the game better.
“I have had a word with the players – to say the least – because too many of them didn’t turn up in the first half.
“If you are not going to get the mental side of the game right then you’ll get punished – and that’s what happened.”
ICT’s Nicolson ‘will be good addition’
There were positives amid the gloom for Elgin, with Caley Thistle loanee defender Lewis Nicolson impressing on his debut as well as young winger Tom Findlay, who is on loan from Dundee.
The manager said: “I thought Lewis did very well on Wednesday. He will be a good addition and I was pleased with him on Wednesday, as well as Tom Findlay when he came on.
“There was a wee bit more appetite from these players – but not enough from throughout the team.
“It was disappointing from the squad in terms of what they gave in the first half. They have got to learn from that, and learn from it quickly.”
Price demanding swift reaction
And, with just two points on the league table so far, Price is urging his side to respond by winning their first League 2 fixture of the season.
He added: “Hopefully we can react by putting on a strong performance and get the win against Stranraer on Saturday.
“We brought the players in on Thursday to look over the Forfar game last weekend, train, and be ready for the weekend.”
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