DUNCAN Sinclair has slammed his complacent Arthurlie side after they fell to a disappointing 3-2 loss away to Kilsyth Rangers. 

Sinclair was hoping Lie could build on their 4-2 win over Darvel last week but admitted his side may have underestimated Rangers as they crashed to their fourth league defeat of the season.

Rangers, Sinclair’s former club, raced to a two-goal lead in the opening 10 minutes as the visitors struggled to get going. 

The home side started on the front foot and opened the scoring after just two minutes thanks to Steven Degnan.

Things went from bad to worse for the Barrhead side moments later when Kilsyth doubled their advantage. PJ Dolan skipped past three defenders before firing low past stand-in keeper McPhee. 

Lie were lethargic as they struggled to cope with Rangers’ tempo and it took them until the half-hour mark before mustering their first effort but Josh Payne couldn’t direct his header on target.

Arthurlie surprisingly grabbed the third goal of the match when it bounced kindly for Del McNab on the edge of the area and the striker caught it sweetly on the half-volley to reduce the deficit at the break. 

Sinclair’s half-time dressing down appeared to do the trick as the visitors upped the tempo from the off with James Marks’ effort flashing wide shortly after the restart.

But just as Arthurlie looked to be gaining a foothold in the match, Rangers caught them on the counter to restore their two goal lead.

McPhee spilled Degnan’s effort and the striker reacted first to grab his second of the day.

Sinclair rang the changes soon after with Jamie Gray and Jamie Docherty making way for David Reid and Stewart Hall and that looked to have paid off immediately when Hall found himself with space in the box, but his header was just over. 

It was all Arthurlie now and the visitors reduced the deficit once more with Marks firing home.  

The Kilsyth keeper was in fine form as he produced two top saves in the final minute to deny Arthurlie a share of the spoils. 

And a furious Sinclair blasted his lacklustre side: “We didn’t turn up in the first half if I’m being honest. We were absolutely rank rotten. That’s the worse I’ve seen my side play. There was no desire, we couldn’t pass the ball and they ran all over the top of us. They took total control of the game. We gave away two goals in the first 10 minutes so it was an uphill battle after that. 

“The boys might have thought it was going to be easy because of the Kilsyth result last week where they lost 8-1 to Rutherglen, but I did warn them. Sometimes they don’t take things on board when you tell them but they got a warning at half-time. We got a response but we just couldn’t go on and get something from the game.”

Next up for Lie is a trip to another of Sinclair’s former sides in Larkhall Thistle and the gaffer is confident his current club can get back to winning ways. 

He said: “We’ve got a good chance to bounce back against my old side Larkhall. They’ve yet to win and are leaking goals as well so we’ll be looking to capitalise on that.”