Steven MacDonald says Forres Mechanics produced the worst performance of his Mosset Park managerial reign in Saturday's defeat at Turriff United

FORRES Mechanics let a lead slip as they went down 3-2 at Turriff United on Saturday.

Cans' boss Steven MacDonald was critical of his team's display at The Haughs

Paul Brindle had opened the scoring for Mechanics just after the half hour mark.

After the break a missed penalty from United provided a warning for the visitors and they equalised shortly after through Aaron Reid.

Jack McKenzie's goal saw Turriff take the lead and Callan Gray added to it later in the second half.

Forres defender Graham Fraser pulled one back for his team but the goal failed to spur a comeback.

After the match, MacDonald said: "I thought Turriff thoroughly deserved it and we were dreadful. It's the poorest we have played since I've taken over.

"We didn't have any quality or real desire and there were warning signs. We were lucky to go in at half-time with the 1-0 lead.

"We got a breakaway goal which Paul Brindle finished well but we didn't really deserve that.

"I thought Turriff were the better team and I said at half-time the warning signs are there and the only real positive is we are in the lead.

"You've got to take those warning signs on board and go out and show much more in the second half.

"Instead of that Turriff actually upped it again and we went into ourselves.

"We got another warning with the penalty and we got out of jail again and you are thinking this is going to be our day.

"But fair play to Turriff they kept going and going and were relentless. They are young boys who were up for it on the day and they went 3-1 up with some good football.

"They were far better than us and it is the first time I've had to question the fight and energy of the players. We didn't show any of that and didn't turn up with Turriff totally deserving their victory."

MacDonald assessed his team's display and what went wrong only days after a convincing 4-0 success over Fort William.

"It's hard to pinpoint areas that went wrong when so many players underperformed. I can't think of really anyone who had a good game, which is unlike us.

"Our whole midfield were as poor as I've seen them and never competed, so we lost the battle there.

"We didn't pass the ball well or get in front of their defenders, they won everything and the second balls as well.

"Overall it was a really poor performance from us but total credit to Turriff because I thought they were excellent and did so many good things during the game.

"We've had a lot of good results or performances recently and have been improving a lot, so we just have to treat this as a setback now which happens in football but we will have to learn from it too.

"We had a good result midweek against Fort William and were looking to take that momentum into this match and get another victory to bounce on. However, it wasn't even one of them when you can be frustrated because the better team won and we had a really bad off day.

"We've got to make sure it is a one-off and the players have been left with no illusions about what the performance was like.

"We've got Buckie on Wednesday, so it doesn't get any easier when you are playing a team going for the title.

"I'm looking for a reaction now because I didn't expect that in the Turriff game and it is disappointing.

"We also have an eye on next season and are learning all the time about the players and areas where we can improve on."