St Cuthbert Wanderers boss Josh Gardner has called on his players to cut out mistakes.
The Kirkcudbright side’s three-game winning run came to an end on Saturday as they lost 5-3 at Caledonian Braves.
But if it hadn’t been for a combination of errors and bad luck, Gardner feels his side could have left with all three points.
He said: “Sometimes you can over analyse a loss but when you look at it we’ve made five mistakes that led to their only five shots on goal and they’ve scored all five.
“They had first team striker Ross McNeil, who is very experienced and has won the Lowland League.
“We gave him three sniffs at goal and he scored all three.
“We have conceded a penalty, the goalkeeper has saved it, it’s come off the post, hit him on the back and gone in.
“Sometimes that’s the way it goes.
“We weren’t good enough on the day and we need to eradicate the errors - we’ve scored three goals away from home and that should be enough.
“If we eradicate the errors we win, it’s as simple as that.
“We were on a good run before that and we just need to try to get back on the horse this weekend.”
Braves took a 2-0 lead into the interval before Kane Paton pulled one back for Saints.
A penalty saw Caledonian Braves restore their lead and they were 4-1 up before goals from John Renwick and Cameron Shaw gave Saints hope.
However, as they pushed for a point, McNeil broke to complete his hat-trick and consign Saints to defeat.
Gardner said: “We went 2-0 down with two uncharacteristic errors, then missed a good chance before the end of the first half.
“We scored quite early in the second half and at that point I thought we could win the game quite comfortably.
“We were looking dangerous, we’d changed the shape, it was looking a bit better but then we shot ourselves in the foot with a penalty.
“We looked pretty dangerous again and another error led to 4-1.
“We got to 4-3 with 12 minutes left and I thought we could sneak it – we weren’t playing well but were still capable of a comeback.
“But when we were pushing for the equaliser, we made an error at the half-way line and Ross McNeil has gone through and scored.
“I’ve seen him plenty of times, he doesn’t miss chances and when he was through one on one I knew it was game over.”
To complete a bad day, defender Johnny Condie had to be stretchered off when Saints conceded their penalty and now faces a lengthy stint on the sidelines.
Gardner added: “It’s looking like a long term injury as he’s damaged his ankle ligaments.
“It’s disappointing as we signed him off the back of a long term injury and he’s worked really hard to get back.
“It’s really unfortunate for him as he looks as if he’ll be back in that position.
“If he puts in the same effort and dedication he did the first time then he’ll be back stronger as he actually had a good game.
“There’s a couple we’re looking at bring in, we just need to see about getting them over the line.”
Saints return home this weekend with Lochar Thistle visiting St Mary’s Park.
The game was due to be played in Dumfries but has been switched to the 3G surface in Kirkcudbright due to the weather forecast.
Gardner said: “We were more than happy to switch it. I think it’s important teams in the league work together to get games on to avoid a pile up of fixtures at the end of the season.
“Lochar have been brilliant so it’ll be a tough game.
“We need to focus on ourselves, eradicate the mistakes and we’ll be in a much better place.”
