Lochmaben loss hurts St Cuthbert Wanderers boss more than double digit defeats

St Cuthbert Wanderers manager Ian Clark reckons Saturday’s loss to Lochmaben hurt more than some of their heavy defeats.

The Kirkcudbright side were 2-0 up well into the second half yet lost 3-2 thanks to a Denver Milligan goal in injury time.

And while Saints have shipped double figures to both Abbey Vale and Newton Stewart this season, Clark feels Saturday was more painful.

He said: “That one stings because we were in control.

“Even at 2-2 it feels like a defeat, then they launched another long throw into the box and it is a defeat.

“We went 2-0 up in the second half and I feel as though we started managing the game in the wrong way.

“I think we tried to slow it down when in reality we should have gone for the third to kill it. We started clock watching and trying to slow the game down, which let them back in it.

“They get a soft penalty which our second choice goalie saves. From there I think the mentality was that we’d won the game and we then manage the game really poorly.

“Is that partly my fault? I can understand where the players are coming from. When I watched it I thought they were trying to manage the game but in reality I think we should have gone for a third.

“It’s something I’ll need to learn from.”

After a goalless first half, Saints took a 2-0 lead with goals from Kelvin Daniel and skipper Ally McMillan.

But Lochmaben fought back, drawing level before Denver Milligan’s heartbreaking winner.

Clark said: “It’s also disappointing because those three points would have taken us off the bottom of the league, we’d have jumped two or three places. It would have been good not to be sitting bottom at Christmas.

“I need to try to take the positives. Chris Wilson stepped up again and we had