JAMIE McKim admits his frustration got the better of him after Burgh twice threw away the lead in a disappointing 4-3 loss away to Vale of Clyde on Saturday.

McKim was hopeful that, after last weekend’s emphatic 6-0 demolishing of Ardeer Thistle, his Burgh side would find some much-needed consistency with back-to-back wins.

It looked like they were well on their way with just a minute gone after Mitchell MacDonald fired them ahead, but the wheels came off after some poor defending allowed the home side right back into it as they levelled 20 minutes in before going on to take a lead after a 45-yard effort drifted in the wind to catch Cammy Sinclair out.

A half-time dressing down from McKim seemed to do the trick as Burgh came out firing in the second-half, levelling 10 minutes after the restart with Sam Esplin’s floated effort creeping in.

New arrival John Ball then scrambled it over the line from a set-piece to hand the visitors the lead for the second time of the afternoon.

But Vale did well to hit back once again, taking advantage of an unfamiliar back four before going on to find a late winner after the defence again failed to clear their lines. 

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McKim likes to be a calm presence on the touchline and in the dressing room, but he admits even he lost the rag at the break and full-time after sloppy defending and a ‘lack of desire’ saw his side leave empty handed. 

He said: “We scored a brilliant goal in the first minute of the game and I was delighted. I thought we were on our way. I thought it was going to be hard for us on that surface as it was wet and mushy but we got a brilliant team goal early on.

“It’s disappointing because if we could have defended properly, we would have won the game and come away with a clean sheet. We were really weak in terms of balls into the box. I was really angry at the players for the first goal, there was three of their players lining up to header it in as we didn’t match them. I thought we lacked a wee bit of desire to be honest. 

“I’m not usually one for being really critical at half-time but there was a lot of harsh words at the break on Saturday because I wasn’t happy at all. 

“I did get a reaction in the second-half as we took the lead again but, again, the two goals we concede were poor. We didn’t defend properly. The one thing I will say is Saturday saw us play with a make-shift back four, but the basic desire to go and win the ball wasn’t there which is where my criticism comes from.”

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After conceding that an unfamiliar defence may have cost his side a vital three points, McKim is relieved to welcome back captain Niall Herron along with Kieron Magennis and Chris Burns for this weekend’s match against Saltcoats Victoria. 

He said: “Niall, Kieron and Chris will all return this weekend so we can start with a more familiar back four.

“I don’t think Saltcoats get shown enough respect in this league. We got punished against them the last time we played them so we need to go and show how good we are and come away with three points. It’s a must win.”