East Kilbride Thistle boss says big moments went against his side in sore cup exit

Aaron Connolly says big moments went against East Kilbride Thistle as they went down 5-0 to North Superleague side Aberdeen East End in the Scottish Junior Cup second round.

But the Jags boss says that and the forthcoming West of Scotland Cup second round tie against Premier League side Gartcairn will ultimately help his players develop as a squad.

Several elements of the game didn’t go West of Scotland Fourth Division side Thistle’s way on Saturday, but Connolly admits the better side went through on the day.

“Big moments in games often change matches and we probably fell victim to that on Saturday,” he said.

“I thought in the first 25 minutes or so we edged the game and missed a really big opportunity to take the lead, unfortunately.

“Less than a minute later we find ourselves a goal down, and concede another one a minute and a half after.

“Psychologically, we just really struggled to recover from that, which I suppose is understandable – you’re playing against a team who are a level or two above you in the system.

“When you give them two goals so quickly it makes it an uphill task, and we just didn’t quite recover from that.

“It’s not easy. We were excited for the trip, but it’s challenging to travel up there, conditions weren’t great, the pitch wasn’t great, and things like that went against us a little bit as well.

“But ultimately we lost to the better team on the day.”

Connolly says while the pressure is on Airdrie side Gartcairn on Saturday, Thistle must be on top form to have a chance of an upset at the Showpark.

He said: “It doesn’t get easier for us, unfortunately. Gartcairn are a top-level side, got promoted last season and have strengthened their squad fairly significantly as well, so it’s a really