REALISTIC Troon FC boss Jim Kirkwood conceded Petershill were "miles better" than his team as the Seasiders lost 2-0 at home to the league leaders on Saturday.

But he hit out at some key decisions by referee Calum Haswell in the Super League First Division match.

The manager said: "We were beaten by a better team - they were fitter, quicker to the ball and were better than us by a mile."

But he added: "Their second goal was offside and we should have had a goal before half-time - the defender ran towards his goal, clattered into his own goalkeeper and the referee had given a free-kick against our player - there's no rhyme or reason to it. But the decisions didn't change the game because I think even if we had scored they would still still have edged it. We shouldn't be as far behind then as we were - we should at least be a match for them in every department, but we weren't. All we asked for the boys was to match them and they didn't. It will be very hard for us to catch Petershill now."

He added that the postponement of the game by the SJFA West Region the previous week had "knocked us out of our stride" and it was an "absolute disgrace" it had been called off, despite the pitch being perfectly playable.

Skipper Dean Keenan had no qualms about the outcome and said: "It was a fair result - Petershill came down and stuck to their game plan. The conditions were difficult but they adapted to them a lot better than we did. They were the better side on the day as they have been throughout the season. It's not as if we've been winning a lot of games, we have been drawing some too, I can't see us win the title now but we have a real battle on our hands to make the top four and start learning quickly. I know people say we have a young squad, but this is big boys' football we are playing."

Troon on Saturday head to Kirkconnel to face Kello Rovers in a rearranged New Coin Holdings West of Scotland Cup first round tie and will be looking to progress after their early exit from the Scottish Junior Cup.

Kirkwood said. "It's a break from the league and a chance to get a result in the cup."

Keenan added: "It's difficult to think about Saturday as I'm still disappointed with the Petershill result, but we must look to get a win and kick start our season."