Auchinleck Talbot boss Tommy Sloan has admitted that his side's weekend result was "a wee bit of a disaster" as they crashed out of the Scottish Junior Cup.
North Region League second division side Lossiemouth United stunned the 14-time Scottish Junior Cup winners with a 3-2 win at Beechwood Park on Saturday.
Talbot had taken the lead just before half time thanks to a Connor Boyd header.
The visitors rode their luck at times before turning the game on its head and leading 2-1 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Relentless Talbot pressure paid off when Luke Gillies restored parity.
Despite it then seeming like Talbot would go and finally get the job done, they were dealt a knockout blow when Alex Matczak bagged Lossiemouth's third.
There was still time for visiting goalkeeper Stephen Dey to pull off a couple of vital stops, before the final whistle blew and Talbot's elimination was confirmed.
Tommy Sloan says it's a game that his team appeared to take lightly, but they must use it as motivation to bounce back quickly.
He said: “It’s a wee bit of a disaster because we’re out the cup at an early stage.
“With all due respect, these are teams we should be beating and there’s no hiding from that.
“We need to get together and we need to lift our standards. We’ve probably take Saturday’s game a bit lightly and we can’t be having that."
Sloan, who is no stranger to tasting triumph in this competition, says his players must put the disappointment aside ahead of another vital cup clash this weekend.
Talbot travel to face Bo’ness Athletic in the South Challenge Cup on Saturday, and Sloan knows it'll be a tough test.
He added: “We should have scored a lot of goals in the game, but we lost three goals and you can’t lose three goals and expect to win many games.
“They’re [Lossiemouth] through and we wish them all the best. But for us it’s about making sure we bounce back and it’s another important cup game coming up next.
“It’s a blow at this stage of the season and it’s me that’s picked the team and it’s down to me.
“From a personal point, it’ll take me a while to recover but as a team we can’t dwell on this result.
“We’ve got another cup tie coming up against a team that’s already knocked Beith out, so it won’t be easy and it’ll be one we really need to be at our best for.
“It’s about the next game and trying to get back to winning ways and it makes the other cups that bit more important now, so we’ll prepare well for it and hopefully we can do well in this competition."
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