Dougie MacDuff reckons he’s so used to Irvine Vics conceding an early goal he could set his watch to it.
The exasperated Vics boss had to wait just six minutes for the all too predictable sight of his side going behind on Saturday.
Matthew Deehan’s fresh-air swipe allowed Kyle McAvoy to put Maryhill in front in the West of Scotland League Conference A clash.
From that horrible, confidence-sapping moment, the Westenders’ afternoon unravelled.
Former Vics frontman Ross McKenzie rubbed salt into wounds with a strike in between a Jay McInally double.
Ben Kellington netted late-on for the hosts but it was of little consolation to MacDuff who finds his side cut adrift at the bottom of the table.
He said: “Before every game we tell them – first 10 minutes we’ve got to make sure we’re tight and compact.
“But for some reason it seems to go in one ear and out the other. We give goals away all the time. It’s usually a minute, two minutes – up to seven minutes.
“We’ve gifted them again and the heads dropped after the first one.
“There’s not much between the teams to be honest. They had the wind in the first half and they’ve capitalised on our poor defending. They’ve been clinical. That’s the difference.”
Despite playing into a strong wind in the first half, Vics fashioned the game’s first real chance in five minutes.
Shane Jackson’s driven cross from the left found Callum McDade alone at the back post but the forward let the ball run under his foot and out for a throw-in.
Sixty seconds later, a similar mistake at the other end handed Maryhill the lead.
Full back Deehan looked well-placed to deal with an incoming free kick 25 yards from goal, but he mistimed his clearance, allowing McAvoy to race on to the loose ball and fire low past keeper Chris Taylor.
McInally should have made it 2-0 in 24 minutes when he steered a header onto the bar from two yards out.
But the striker made amends two minutes later when he raced on to a long ball and applied a first time finish into the net from 18 yards.
Fraser MacDuff glanced a header narrowly past the post as Vics tried to get a foothold in the game.
But ‘Hill made it 3-0 in 40 minutes when McKenzie netted from a tight angle after some pinball in the box.
Vics posed more of a threat after the break but Maryhill added a fourth on the counter attack in 79 minutes, McInally holding off trailist centre-half Efosa Osaretin to slot the ball into the bottom corner of the net from 17 yards.
Ironically, Vics scored the goal of the game in 81 minutes, sub Kellington tapping home after a sweeping counter attack.
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