Albion Rovers put in 'poorest performance of the season' as they crash out of cup

Sandy Clark reckons his Albion Rovers side turned in their poorest performance of the season as they bowed out of the SPFL Trust Trophy at East Fife.

The Wee Rovers took the lead after 31 minutes when Niyah Joseph volleyed home the opener, but the Fifers found two goals in the second half through Jonathan Page and Connor McManus to send the visitors packing at the third round stage.

And Clark admitted he was baffled by his side’s showing against League Two opposition.

He said: “We never played well the whole game. It is one of these ones where it is hard to put your finger on why.

“The first half wasn’t a great game to watch and we just about edged it, getting the goal, and we looked okay.

“But in the second half we just didn’t compete the way we normally do. Maybe we were lacking a wee bit of experience on the pitch. We have played a lot of games in the last wee while with pretty much the same group as well, but I’m not using that as an excuse.

“It is the first time this season we haven’t performed anything like we can do. We’ve had games where we’ve had good spells and bad spells, but on Saturday we didn’t have any good spells at all.

“We didn’t manage the game, we didn’t pass the ball very well and it is hard to put my finger on it.

“I really felt going into the game that we would do really well. They are a league above us and we are a young, new team so there was no pressure on us.

“It is disappointing we didn’t play as well as we have done.

“East Fife were the better team in the second half and I have got no complaints with the result.”

Meanwhile, Clark was also frustrated by his side’s 2-2 draw with Stirling University in the Lowland League last midweek.

Goals from Niyah Joseph and Bright Prince had them on top at