SAUCHIE JUNIORS boss Fraser Duncan believes his side deserved to win at the weekend but bemoaned his team's lack of killer instinct.

The Reds travelled to Dunbar United and were defeated 2-1 – the hosts took the lead before Danny Smith equalised but the home side scored again as Sauchie pushed for a winner.

Duncan told Advertiser Sport: "Disappointing not to come away with anything from the game, it’s poor to go down there and not come away with anything.

"Dunbar are a decent side, well set up, well organised with some good players and some experienced players that have been in the league for a long time now but I felt for us to leave the game with nothing is scandalous.

"We’ve done more than enough...except score.

"We’ve played so well, probably some of the best football I’ve ever seen Sauchie play.

"We were absolutely outstanding, passed the ball about well and looked like we could score as many as we wanted to on Saturday but we couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net, couldn’t take our chances and it comes back to bite us in the end.

“It’s a difficult one to take but our boys need to learn to put the ball in the back of the net.”

The game was Sauchie's last of 2021 and the club's next match will be the visit of Jeanfield Swifts to Beechwood on January 5 however Duncan is unsure if it will go ahead.

The game has been pencilled in for a 7.30pm kick off but Sauchie’s stadium is still damaged from Storm Arwen and so the game may not be able to go ahead.

Duncan continued: “We’ve got two floodlights that have fell, there’s a fair bit of damage at the club.

“We’re trying to do our best to get the game to go ahead.”

As 2021 draws to a close, Duncan looked back fondly on the club's famous Scottish Cup run but also hoped his side could replicate that form in the league.

He said: “It’s been a season where we’ve had a very poor start and after the poor start we managed to strengthen the team, add a few bodies.

"The Scottish Cup run, we done brilliantly, I just wish we could take our cup form into the league.

“We’ve picked up a couple of good results recently but there’s also some poor results in there."

However, Duncan isn't one to reflect on the past and insists both he and his team are only looking forward.

“There’s still loads of football to be played," he said. "We’ve got three games in hand and if we can take nine points from them then we go right back into the mix.

“I’ve set the boys a target of finishing in the top six. It’s not an unrealistic target.

“We need to start scoring goals, we’re playing well but we need to improve on that.

“I’ve told the boys to take the break and enjoy the break because we’ve got a lot of work to do when they come back.

“The boys know that and they’re eager so we’ll come back in the new year and get stuck right in about it.”