Shotts Bon Accord boss John McKeown admits his side might have blown their title chances with a shock 1-0 defeat to Forth Wanderers.
The Hannah Park side were riding high after a spirited performance against Auchinleck Talbot in the Scottish Junior Cup last weekend, but a return to West of Scotland Football League Conference A action brought them back to earth.
Alessandro Savarese’s goal sealed just a fourth Shotts defeat in 24 league matches this term. But while they still sit second, leaders Arthurlie’s 4-0 win over Girvan extended their lead to four points with two games in hand.
While not conceding their title hopes, McKeown admits they have a long way to go now after defeat to a side six places below them on home soil.
He said: “We wanted to keep the pressure on Arthurlie but that looks a far stretch now. We’re not throwing it in but we have shot ourselves in the foot.
“Their consistency has been great whereas ours hasn’t. That sums up a league title race. You need to be consistent all the time and against Forth we fell well below our standards.
“A credit to Forth as they did very well and they have some good players. We still did okay work-wise but we were very sloppy on the ball.”
McKeown admits that his side perhaps had a case of cup hangover after a poor display in the league, adding: “I would say this was probably our worst performance of the season.
“I warned them that after having such a big occasion like we did, you can fall flat. We certainly did. It was flat and the surface was difficult, but Forth played it a lot better than us. I just felt we were looking for excuses.
“Some of the boys were blaming the pitch but I thought it was a cop-out. We just didn’t play well and Forth looked as if they wanted it more, which is disappointing.”
Shotts have six league games left this season but their fate is fully out of their hands as they watch to see results come in at Arthurlie.
McKeown, who’s side face Maybole Juniors this weekend, added: “It’s probably knee-jerk to be critical after a defeat but the game was so important to keep on Arthurlie’s tale.
“We have done well but I hope we don’t let the season peter out now. We need to keep putting in performances. It’s now a time to look ahead to next season too.
“As a manager at this stage in the season, you want to secure your squad members you want to keep and Saturday was perhaps an indicator we need to strengthen too.”
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