Chris Strain felt his Kilwinning Rangers players only had themselves to blame after a shock shoot-out defeat against St Cadoc's ended their Strathclyde Demolition Cup hopes at the first hurdle.
The Kilwinning boss watched his side dominate the opening 45 minutes at Buffs Park then fail to show up in the second half as their lower-league opponents cancelled out Thomas Collins’ opener.
The visitors finished with 10 men after goalscorer Mark Millar saw red but bravely battled on to take the first round tie to spot-kicks where they held their nerve to reach the second round.
West of Scotland Premier Division cracks Kilwinning were among the favourites for the competition which offers up a fresh route into the senior Scottish Cup.
And Strain could not hide his disappointment at crashing out as he admitted his side were guilty of switching off while holding the narrowest of leads.
He said: “We started really well, got the goal and were by far the better team. Half-time came and went and we just didn’t come out with the same intensity.
“Everything we did in the first half, winning second balls, pressing well, working ourselves into one-on-one situations, we just didn’t do in the second half.
“We didn’t do enough to win the battle. Teams will always enjoy a wee spell in any match, but for 30 minutes against St Cadoc’s we just couldn’t get a foothold in the game. That shouldn’t happen.
“St Cadoc’s are a decent side with some good players but no disrespect to them, we should be winning the game.
“We’ve got to do more to win games at the moment. It’s as if some boys think we’ve done enough when we haven’t.
“Penalties are always a bit of a lottery but there’s no getting away from the fact it’s a disappointing result.”
Kilwinning started very brightly, Gavin Millar, Ally McColm and David Ramsay all going close before Collins made the breakthrough in 31 minutes.
The former Beith hitman was in the right place at the right time to roll home from 12 yards after Millar drew the keeper and laid the ball into his path.
A combination of the woodwork and good goalkeeping prevented Buffs from adding to the scoreline before the break but they appeared to be firmly in control of the tie.
St Cadoc’s had nothing to lose however and they took the game to their Premier opponents, eventually reaping the rewards in 70 minutes when Mark Millar found the net with a fine strike from 20 yards.
Millar was back in the thick of it with 10 minutes left on the clock when he was given his marching orders but Buffs couldn’t take advantage before the referee blew for full-time and the tie was decided by penalties.
Kilwinning return to league duty this weekend when they travel to Holm Park to face fellow high-flyers Clydebank.
Strain is hoping a growing injury list will clear up in time for the crunch clash.
He said: “It’s not an excuse but we’ve been stretched to the max this week with five players out. Hopefully we can get a couple back in time for Saturday.”
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