Sean Kenney said he’d reached his lowest point as Ardeer Thistle boss after watching his side slump to a 5-0 defeat against Glasgow Uni on Saturday.
Thistle were fortunate to find themselves only two goals down at the interval after a poor first half showing at the Excelsior Stadium.
But their afternoon completely unravelled after the break as they conceded twice in the opening 10 minutes before defender Jack Taylor was sent off for a second yellow card.
The hosts capitalised on their numerical advantage by adding a fifth goal and humiliation looked on the cards when Ardeer went down to nine-men following a red card for Andy McGregor with 15 minutes still to play.
The visitors managed to see out a damage limitation exercise but gutted boss Kenney admitted he couldn’t take any positives from the game.
Speaking on the club's social media channels, he said: “It’s the lowest I’ve been since I’ve been at the club. It was nowhere near good enough and nowhere near acceptable.
“First half, two silly mistakes cost us. Second half was terrible – an absolute embarrassment. We massively let ourselves down.
“We’ll not be forgetting this in a hurry. We’ll watch it back and learn from it.”
The game was one of only four West of Scotland League fixtures to survive the weekend’s cold snap. Both teams kicked off level on 13 points, looking to pull away from the Second Division drop zone.
But the Uni outfit were streets ahead of their rivals on the day and didn’t look back after storming in front with 17 minutes on the clock. Ardeer’s defence switched off allowing Dan Atkinson to run through and slot past goalkeeper John Lynn from 16 yards.
Lynn went from helpless to howler when the hosts deservedly doubled their lead in the 40th minute. The keeper clutched fresh air as he came to collect a free-kick delivery, allowing Keelan Adams to bundle the ball home from close range.
Kenney would have been expecting a reaction from his players in the second half but within five minutes of the restart they were 3-0 down, Adams finishing off a fine counter attack with a clipped finish over the diving Lynn.
The striker then completed his hat-trick in 54 minutes, firing home from a tight angle to leave Ardeer on the floor.
Taylor’s dismissal on the hour mark twisted the knife in further. And it was game, set and match moments later when Adams produced an emphatic finish from a tight angle to make it 5-0.
McGregor’s red card for a last-man foul on the edge of his own box simply rubbed salt into Ardeer’s wounds.
The Stevenston side, who now sit one place above the relegation zone, will hope to bounce back quickly with an away win at Maybole this Saturday.
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