Gutted Kirkcaldy & Dysart boss Conrad Courts rues missed chances in League Cup final loss

First division K & D created some fine scoring opportunities in the first half which they failed to take – including Kieran Dall shooting off the inside of the post and having another shot saved while Jack O’Donnell had a header stopped, before the Premier Division champions upped their game in the second half to win the cup with a double by Jordan Smith.

K & D manager Courts told the Fife Free Press: “We hit the post and their goalie had two or three good saves in the first half so we had opportunities to go in front but we never really took them and it came back to bite us.

"You’re always kind of thinking that when you're playing a top team like Musselburgh, when you do get the chances, you have to take one.

"Because normally when you play against a good team, if they get two or three chances, they're probably going to take one of them.

"We were well in the game and it was a really good team performance.

“Musselburgh changed their shape a wee bit at the beginning of the second half – putting one out wide and having an overload in the middle of the park – and it took us a wee bit of time to get to grips with that.

"In the first half the players knew who they were marking in those areas of the park and with them changing it, it just unsettled us a wee bit.”

K & D also suffered from having Cammy McGregor red carded on 78 minutes for a second foul, with Courts adding: “I didn’t have any complaints about that second booking.

"But the first one (for what was deemed to be a first half foul by McGregor) I felt was a bit of a disgrace if I'm honest because it was actually a great tackle.

"He got the ball and the man at the same time but he definitely got the ball so it was almost like an old-fashioned 50-50 if you like.

"Sometimes in this day and age with the way football is, those decisions just seem to go against you.

"It was 2-0 when we got a man sent off so it made that uphill struggle even harder. But even when we went down to 10 men, I still felt like we almost looked like the team that was going to score.

"We hit the bar and created another couple of half-chances but it was very difficult once they scored two goals because they're a top team and we needed to score three goals to win the game.”

On what his team could learn from their top flight opponents, Courts said: "Musselburgh were definitely ruthless. I've kind of said that a few times to our team this year.

"There's been so many games where we've created loads and loads of chances but maybe only taken one, maybe two of them where realistically we could almost send a message to other teams by scoring four and five and almost showing what you're actually really capable of.

"Because if we can get that ruthless side to our game then we can definitely be a force next year.”