WHITLETTS Victoria manager Kevin Kelly slammed his side’s “lacklustre” first half performance as they crashed out of the Scottish Cup.
In their first venture into the competition, the South Ayrshire outfit fell at the second preliminary round stage away to Camelon Juniors.
The East of Scotland Premier Division club were 3-0 winners on Saturday as Kelly was left ruing a period which left his side with it all to do.
Vics started brightly with Kyro Crawford seeing his chip finish up just over the Camelon bar as he looked to open the scoring.
Soon after, a quickfire double put the hosts two ahead and left Whitletts with a mountain to climb.
On four minutes, an unchallenged run and cross from the left was headed high past visiting keeper Evan Currie by Camelon centre forward MacKenzie.
Just moments later a rushed clearance by a Vics defender cannoned off Camelon’s Ben Scarborough in the box and past a bemused Currie for the home side’s second.
The goals seemed to knock the stuffing from Whitletts, and they struggled to find any sort of rhythm to their play in the first period.
More disaster was to follow for the Ayrshire side when after 20 minutes, influential player Kyle Faulds landed awkwardly after jumping for a header and had to be replaced by Craig Reid.
A couple of minutes from the break Camelon defender David Ferguson rose unchallenged at the near post to head home a corner from the right and make it 3-0.
Whitletts started the second half with more urgency and Jordan Boyd saw his shot saved by Camelon goalie Shaw as they tried to claw their way back into it.
The game saw a flashpoint in 54 minutes when Whitletts substitute Peter Mendy looked to be tripped by a home defender as he turned in the box.
The referee incensed the visiting bench as he proceeded to book Mendy for simulation.
Stephen McLelland was next to go close when his curling effort from 20 yards flashed just past the top corner.
Kelly's men had Currie to thank after that for keeping the score at three as he made a couple of good saves whilst Camelon remained dangerous on the counter.
The home team’s Kyle Johnson also saw his close-range header come off the bar.
Despite Whitletts’ pressure throughout the half the breakthrough never came.
“It was a game of two halves in our respect," Kelly said. "We’re 2-0 down, just really lacklustre, we’ve not put a glove on them in the first half, and we’ve lost a poor third just before half time.
“I thought in the second half the boys showed there was real impetus, they showed an aggression towards the game, and we made Camelon think about it much more.”
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