Dalbeattie Star are all but relegated after going from one of their best displays of the season to one of their worst.
The Islecroft side fought back from 2-0 down to snatch a point against Celtic’s youngsters on Wednesday night, setting them up perfectly for their relegation showdown with Edinburgh University.
But they were thumped 4-0, leaving them six points from Lowland League safety with just three games left.
Boss Eddie Warwick said: “We probably went from one of our best performances to one of our worst performances in three days.
“On Wednesday we were outstanding to a man.
“I don’t know if anyone has come back from 2-0 down against Celtic this season, they usually see it out, and it was a massive plus for us.
“What worried me on Thursday was whether we’d taken too much out of ourselves – and that’s exactly what had happened.
“We had nothing in the tank. It wasn’t attitude, we just couldn’t do the hard yard running we did against Celtic. I couldn’t change it too much as I’m still carrying about seven bodies I can’t use.
“As soon as the whistle went I could see they weren’t able to cover the ground against a team that is much, much less than Celtic.
“It was 0-0 for about half an hour, then in a crazy six minutes we lost three goals.
“We probably played the better football in the second half, had a couple of gilt edged chances we didn’t take, then we pushed at the end and they caught us on the break.
“The concentration levels of Wednesday night had drained them. It was a mental tiredness, which is more dangerous than a physical tiredness.”
Goals from Nick Kay and Will Antoniuk gave the students control, Lewis Hendry making it 3-0 before the break.
David Maskrey scored the only goal of the second half to all but consign Star to the South of Scotland League.
To avoid that, they would need to take as many points from their final three games as they have from their previous 33 under Warwick and previous boss Jordan Williamson.
Warwick said: “We probably deserve it. The team was in a lot of trouble before I came in. The players aren’t good enough for the level they’re at.
“They go and get a point against Civil Service and lose six goals the week after. They come back against Celtic, which was an outstanding performance, then go against the team they really need to beat and they show absolutely nothing.”
