Seething Dick Campbell admits Arbroath were deservedly dispatched by Partick Thistle at Firhill.
The Jags cruised to a comfortable 2-0 victory courtesy of a clinical brace by the excellent Kyle Turner.
Only the brilliance of Derek Gaston ensured the scoreline did not become humbling, with the experienced goalkeeper denying Turner, Brian Graham and Darren Brownlie over the course of the contest.
Arbroath started reasonably well, with Dale Hilson and Tam O’Brien both denied in the opening stages.
However, the visitors failed to lay a glove on their hosts after falling behind.
Campbell’s men are now five matches without a victory and have scored just one goal in that time.
“It was deserved,” said a visibly disgruntled Campbell, during brief post-match remarks totalling 54 seconds.
“It’s been the same all season. Their strikers take their chances; we don’t.
“It was a very, very, very poor performance and I’m very angry.
“I thought they were better than us and we just need to move on to next Friday.”
Arbroath remain in eighth place ahead of next week’s Friday night finale, two points ahead of Cove Rangers with, realistically, an insurmountable goal difference advantage.
Campbell’s men host rock-bottom Hamilton and, although Accies are only three points behind the Lichties, a 14-GOAL swing would be required for automatic relegation to be possible.
Cove, meanwhile, are visited by Morton.
Dominant
Victorious boss Kris Doolan added: “It was a great team performance from start to finish. I thought we controlled the game. We limited Arbroath to a few half-chances.
“But in general terms, we marshalled the game well and dominated the ball.
“We scored two really good goals and created another couple of good chances. We looked threatening and also quite secure at the back.”
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