Everything that could go wrong did, says Peebles Rovers boss Ger Rossi after 5-0 defeat

The Borderers were given a 5-0 thumping by Fife’s Thornton Hibs at home at Whitestone Park on Saturday, outdoing their previous worst loss of this campaign, by 3-0 at Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University in October, by two goals.

Hibs’ scorers were Joe Kinninmonth on six minutes and 79, Mikey Gough just before half-time, Stuart Drummond from the penalty spot on 55 minutes following a controversial handball decision and Jamie McNeish wrapping proceedings up with full-time approaching.

“I didn’t see that coming, to be honest, but everything that could have gone wrong on the day did,” Rossi told the club’s website.

“We made four really poor errors within the game and Thornton needed no second invitation. They accepted the gifts we presented and punished us.

“We also saw a penalty awarded for something I’m still scratching my head about, but the long and short of it is that we had single-handedly thrown the game away all by ourselves by that point, which is really out of character and bitterly disappointing.

“Sometimes I think there are games you just have to be at to make sense of what has happened.

“The harsh reality is that we weren’t ruthless enough at one end and we have self-destructed, probably for the first time this season, and inflicted our own punishment at the other – but we have to move on.

“The boys are better than that and I’m sure they will do absolutely everything to get back on track ahead of a big cup match at Leith Athletic on Friday night.”

That second-round East of Scotland League Cup tie kicks off at Edinburgh’s Meadowbank Stadium at 8pm and it’s followed by a trip on league duty to Hawick Royal Albert next Wednesday, with kick-off at 7.30pm.

Rovers are currently ninth in the table, on 29 points from 23 fixtures.