Creetown chief Martin McCaulay described his side’s defeat to Stranraer as a “night to forget”.
The Castle Cary Park side lost 4-0 on Friday night as they were dumped out of the Tweedie Cup.
And McCaulay said: “It was just a night to forget for us. Right from the first minute, things seemed to go from bad to worse.
“We were one down after one minute. They scored direct from a free-kick – it was soft but you’ve just got to accept the decision and I don’t think my goalkeeper set up his wall right.
“We had a chance after they went 1-0 up, it fell to Lewis Dunn inside the box and he failed to hit the target.
“I lost my captain after 20 minutes, which didn’t help things. He lost his discipline and reacted to something he shouldn’t have. After that, it’s even more of an uphill task.”
Matthew Robertson’s free-kick had given Stranraer that early lead before Creetown skipper Lewis Dunn was dismissed.
Harry Mitchell made it 2-0 before half-time and the hosts really made their advantage count after the break thanks to goals from Ryan Edgar and Rab Smith.
McCaulay said: ““Even in the first 20 minutes when it was 11 v 11, we were second best to everything. It was so unlike us.
“My goalkeeper was at fault for the first and third goal, which is really unlike him. He’s hardly made any mistakes since I’ve come in. It was a tough night for us.
“We’ve probably made more mistakes and wrong decisions in that 90 minutes than in the whole of the time I’ve been in charge.
“We just need to take it on the chin, accept it and move on. We can’t have any complaints.”
On Saturday, Creetown are back at home when they host St Cuthbert Wanderers.
It’s both teams’ final game of 2024, with Saints returning to action after a few weeks off due to the weather.
McCaulay said: “Hopefully it’s a good week forecast wise and we get the game on and finish 2024 on a high after last week’s disappointment.
“We could do with a win just to keep the league form up.”