East Fife boss Willie Aitchison was left scratching his head by his side’s poor showing in their home defeat by Ayr.
Aitchison watched his side ship goals to Michael Moffat and Scott McLaughlin while Michael Donald bagged a brace. Liam Buchanan’s penalty was the Fifers’ consolation.
It was a frustrating 90 minutes for Aitchison who said he was left puzzled by the performance.
He said: “We can’t go on the pitch for them, all we can do is coach them. The coaching and preparation for the game had been absolutely fantastic.
“The boys were up for it but the simple fact is they just didn’t produce it on the day.”
Craig Johnstone had fired inches wide for East Fife as the home side looked to make a positive start to the game.
Ayr took the lead, though, when the Fifers gave the ball away just outside their own area and were punished by Donald who fired past Greg Paterson.
East Fife struggled to get back into the game and it was soon 2-0 with the Methil men again guilty of slack defending.
Moffat was allowed far too much time on the edge of the box and he punished Aitchison’s men by firing into the top corner.
Bottom-of-the-table East Fife were gifted a chance to get back into the game on the stroke of half-time when Buchanan was bundled over inside the box by Martin Campbell, giving referee Iain Brines little option but to point to the spot.
Buchanan stepped up to take the penalty and sent David Hutton the wrong way.
Any hopes the Fifers had of getting themselves on level terms were dashed early in the second half when McLaughlin’s fine header looped over the head of Paterson.
The game was wrapped up in the dying minutes when Donald tapped home from close range to complete the home side’s misery.