Arthurlie: Lie's eight-game unbeaten run ended at St Roch's

Sinclair had warned his side that James McGrory Park would be a difficult place to go and stamp their authority on the match and it proved to be just that as the Candy Rock won their first match since December 1.

Lie hadn’t lost a match since a 2-0 defeat at home to Cumbernauld United at the beginning of November and it looked like that run would continue after they started well on a heavy surface with David Reid testing Roch keeper John Paul Stark.

The visitors were on the front foot when they were handed the chance to break the deadlock from the spot only for the ever reliable Del McNab to step up and see his effort excellently turned away by Stark.

Stark was proving to be a thorn in Lie’s side as he produced another fine stop to deny Craig Molloy.

James Digney had to be on his toes as he was called into action up the other end before the break to parry Stephen McDonald’s effort behind before Josh Payne reacted first to clear the resulting corner off the line.

Sinclair rung the changes as Lie chased it in the second-half with Hal Bohme and Jamie Docherty coming on for Reid and James Marks.

St Roch’s substitute Jordan Logan made an immediate impact, however, coming off the bench 75 minutes in and opening the scoring less than 60 seconds later with his first touch.

Arthurlie were quick to respond thanks to sub Bohme’s effort. Three avoidable mistakes then cost Lie all three points as Eddie Ferns took advantage of sloppy and hesitant defending to rifle home the winner.

Sinclair was left to rue that missed penalty in the first-half and admitted that St Roch’s second goal has left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Arthurlie unable to extend unbeaten run at the notoriously difficult James McGrory Park

“I really can’t fault the boys’ effort. Their commitment was superb in really difficult conditions,” he told Barrhead Sport. “Missing the penalty early on was a big thing for us, though. I believe if we go 1-0 and leave them chasing the game, then we go on and win it.

“It was a really good goal to get back level but the second goal we concede really was a disaster for us. It was three silly mistakes. We gave away a free header in the box, missed the clearance completely and then our defender gets absolutely rag-dolled like a two-year-old. That was only five minutes after we got it back to 1-1 so we lost a bit of impetus with that - you just can’t account for three individual errors like that.”

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Lie are back at home this weekend as they welcome Kilsyth Rangers to Dunterlie with Sinclair urging his side to put the St Roch’s disappointment behind them quickly.

He added: “I wanted to say one or two things after the match but I held back as I want the boys to get right back on it and look forward to Kilsyth this weekend. 

“It’ll be good to be back at Dunterlie but we’ve got big first team players missing so we need to rejig some things. I’m talking to a player tonight in training and I’m hopeful of bringing him in for the rest of the season.”