Clydebank manager Gordon Moffat was left gutted as his side's Scottish Cup dream came to an end on Saturday with a 3-2 defeat at Formartine United.

Nicky Low had fired the visitors into an early lead at North Lodge Park but the Highland League leaders hit back through Julian Wade’s header before the interval.

Wade added a second just after the hour and Adam Emslie put some daylight between the teams as the Fort took a two-goal lead into the final ten minutes.

Adam Kelly’s looping effort set up a grandstand finish in Pitmedden but there was to be no dramatic equaliser as the Holm Park side exited the competition at the second round stage.

Moff admits the second-half display from his side was nowhere near good enough, though refused to pin the blame entirely on his players.

Speaking to the Post, he said: “It was really disappointing, the feeling in the dressing room afterwards was that we didn’t reach the levels that we know we can and the most frustrating part is if we had reached those levels then I would have been confident of getting through the tie.

“You need to give the opposition credit, though, and Formartine adjusted well at half-time and with hindsight, there are things I maybe should have done differently so I’m sitting beating myself up.

“The boys certainly aren’t daft and they know they didn’t play well in the second-half so it’s a collective thing that we just never done enough.

“In the first half we used the wind to our advantage and we moved the ball really well from side to side which was a big part of our game plan but in the second half we didn’t pass the ball well enough and gave it away time after time, and it meant they could get a foot on it and turn us.

“They man-marked our middle three ball players in the second half and we never figured out how to get them on the ball and it’s frustrating for me to think I could have done more to help the guys, but they are honest enough as well that they know they should have been doing more and made better decisions.

“It’s frustrating and the fact we had travelled so far and put so much into the preparation probably amplified that frustration.

“I can understand that coming from the supporters too because they have seen us play a lot of good stuff this season but on Saturday we never hit those heights, and I share that”.

It’s a return to league action for Clydebank this weekend, and they don’t get any bigger than Saturday’s clash with Beith at Holm Park.

Bankies currently sit top of the Premier Division but a win for last season's league champions will see them cup the gap to just one point.

Moff believes it is the perfect fixture for his troops to pick themselves back up after Saturday’s result and urged them to turn that disappointment into a positive performance.

He said: “I think it’s a good one to go into because there’s no room for the guys to feel sorry for themselves.

“We were unlucky in the cup tie against Beith recently and it could have gone either way so we’ll need to be at that level again.

“The second-half on Saturday was as poor as we have been since the opening day so it’s good to have this game because it will focus the mind of myself and the players.”

Kick-off at Holm Park on Saturday is at 2.00pm.