Jimmy Nicholl admitted his side were so poor that he was already preparing for Saturday’s clash with Queen of the South before Dumbarton had put them out of their misery.
The Blue Brazil produced arguably their worst display of the season as the free-scoring Sons added five to their tally while ruthlessly exposing the Fifers’ defensive frailties.
Nicholl had every right to bemoan the lapses which contributed to at least four of the home side’s goals.
However, he could have few complaints about the opener midway through the first half. Chris Turner and Colin Nish swapped passes before Mitch Megginson gave Thomas Flynn no chance with a curling finish.
The Blue Brazil at least matched their hosts for possession in the first period but lacked a cutting edge.
They were punished on the restart when Jordan Kirkpatrick’s flighted free-kick created unnecessary problems and Mikey Miller swept home the loose ball.
John Armstrong gave ’Beath a lifeline eight minutes later when the Sons failed to deal with a corner and the defender swivelled to net from close range.
Hopes of a comeback, though, were dashed by some more calamitous Cowdenbeath defending.
First Kirkpatrick saw a harmless-looking free kick fumbled into the net by Flynn, before substitute Garry Fleming was given the freedom of the box to score with his first touch.
The ever-alert Chris Kane completed the rout when he exposed a gaping hole in the centre of the visitors’ defence.
“I was already picking my team for next Saturday by 4.20, that’s how bad it was,” revealed Nicholl.
“It was a horrific performance. We gave them their goals far too easily. You want teams to have to work if they’re going to score against you, but that just didn’t happen today.
“It’s a real sore one and we have to treat it as a wake-up call.”
With Morton and Alloa also losing, the Central Park side have neither lost ground on the bottom team nor gained any on the team above them, but Nicholl said: “That’s just one point we’ve taken from the last nine, and that’s not good enough.”
Sons boss Ian Murray said: “I think 5-1 maybe flattered us a bit today because we scored at good times but we definitely deserved to win the game.”