Dow, honest in his appraisal, didn’t hold back after the match, confessing that the management team was lost for words after such a poor performance and their recent run of form.

He said: “That was the poorest display since we took over and there’s nothing we can take from the game.

“Too many boys had an off-day from front to back.

“The coaches and I spoke it about after the game but we were lost for words. We didn’t see that coming at all.

“We were in the game then gave away two soft goals and didn’t show desire to get back into it.

“No disrespect to Kilsyth, but they are a bog standard Championship team. We told our boys that after the match on Saturday.

“We’ve just been promoted into the league and Kilsyth have been here for a while, so it was a definite eye-opener and shows the levels that we need to get to.”

Dow has now challenged his side to bounce back this weekend as they welcome high-flying Benburb to Brig O’Lea. Despite beating the Bens during their Sectional League Cup campaign, Dow is adamant that his side will take nothing for granted against the in-form visitors who have scored 17 goals in their last four matches .

Benburb sit second in the West Championship having lost just one match since Neilston’s 2-1 win in the League Cup back in July and Dow admits that their cup win will count for absolutely nothing come Saturday afternoon.

He said: “You can’t tell anything from the League Cup section as they are glorified friendlies.

“But it will be a good test for us on Saturday and we’ll not hide from anything.”

Neilston co-manager John-Paul Dow admits Saturday’s defeat at Duncansfield against Kilsyth Rangers was an eye-opener.

The Farmer’s Boys were beaten 6-1 by their North Lanarkshire opponents and have now gone five league games without a win.

Dow accepts Saturday was the poorest display he has seen from his team since he joined.

Neilston have been struggling recently with their last win coming back in August and their poor form continued as they suffered their heaviest defeat of the season against the Lang.

Rangers opened the scoring on 19 minutes and never looked back, doubling their lead 15 minutes later.

Neilston started the second-half on the front foot but the home side grabbed two goals in two devastating minutes.

Dow’s side pulled one back with 20 minutes remaining but it counted for nothing as Kilsyth quickly restored their four-goal lead.

Neilston were forced to play the final 10 minutes a man down after Dylan Fletcher limped off with all substitutes already made, as Kilsyth netted their sixth of the day to finish the rout.