Dalbeattie Star’s season got off to a horrendous start as they lost 8-0 at Kelty Hearts on Saturday.
Nathan Austin scored a hat-trick and Stephen Husband bagged a brace with Scott Linton, Dylan Easton and Ross Mutch also scoring.
Star boss Ritchie Maxwell – who was taking charge of the team in a competitive game for the first time – said: “It’s a pretty disappointing way to start the season. I’ve got to take most of the flack and was maybe a bit naive going into the game.
“We had four players on holiday and one injured and then we lost Dean Brotherston before kick-off. The English FA hadn’t put through his international clearance and we only found out on Saturday.”
Kelty, managed by Rangers legend Barry Ferguson, have spent big on bringing in a number of players from league clubs in a bid to win the Lowland League and promotion to League Two.
Maxwell admitted: “Players were making individual errors and they were being capitalised on. It seemed every time we made a mistake they scored.
“I think it’s a bit of a freak result as it seemed every time they had a chance, they took it.”
Star lost 2-0 at home to defending champions East Kilbride on Wednesday and on Saturday they welcome Gala Fairydean Rovers to Islecroft.
Maxwell said: “We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We can’t let Saturday define our season, we have plenty of time to get over it.”
