SHATTERED Troon FC boss Gordon Burns said his side's shock Scottish Junior Cup defeat at Darvel was one of his"lowest moments" in the game.

The Seasiders suffered a stunning 2-1 defeat in a fourth round tie at Recreation Park after seeing off East Coast big guns Bo'ness United in the previous round.

And Burns, who took charge at the start of the season, says his team deserved to take nothing from the match

Burns told Sportscene: "I have been involved in football for 21 years and that has to be one of my lowest moments. It's also one of the worst performances in my nine years at Troon.

"I am still angry - the players let themselves, me, the club and the fans down. All respect to Darvel but that is a match we should have been looking to win. It's such a disappointment as we had beaten Bo'ness in the previous round. and a win would have taken us into the last 16. The players knew the game plan. they knew what we had asked them do to. I asked the players to match Darvel in terms of work-rate,. passing and desire but they did not and Darvel deserved their win. They were more up for it."

"I know the players are hurting and they should be. But one of our problems this season has been inconsistency and this result and the win against Bo'ness totally sum up our season. Although we had a lot of possession we did not create too many clearcut chances and that was disappointing. I know Darvel hadn't played in a few weeks but neither had we."

The boss said his side were denied what look a penalty claim at 1-0 down and said: "Dale Moore was brought down inside the box and it should have been a penalty. But I am not making any excuses."

Troon on Saturday host a Hurlford United side who defeated them in their last meeting - the Ardagh Glass League Cup final at Meadow Park in October - in the McBookie Premier Division.

Now Burns is demanding a much-improved effort from his team.

He said: "The cup was really disappointing but we have to move on from it. There's nothing we can do about it. But the players know that I'm looking for a reaction from them. They owe the fans a better performance on Saturday. Hurlford are a good side but we are looking to take three points. It's a tight league and a couple of good results can push you up the table."

Skipper Dean Keenan looks to miss out through injury. But everyone else was fit as we went to press.