Arbroath 4 Airdrie 0: McCabe blasts "weak" defending as 10-man Diamonds well beaten

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Raging Rhys McCabe branded his side “weak” after they suffered their heaviest defeat of the season away to Arbroath, in a clash which saw both sides finish with 10 men.First half goals from Michael McKenna and Jermaine Hylton, plus late strikes from Jay Bird and Leighton McIntosh inflicted a 4-0 defeat at Gayfield.It means the Diamonds’ search for a first away win in the Championship goes on, but the manner of their defensive display in Angus left a lot to be desired.Despite being 2-0 down, a Ricky Little red card just before half-time appeared to have given the visitors the chance of mounting a comeback.But Airdrie substitute Liam McStravick saw red for two bookable offences just 10 minutes after coming on to extinguish those hopes.McCabe, whose side have fallen to seventh in the table with two wins from five games, told the club media: “It is not something I would label at this team very often, but I’m questioning not so much selected individuals, but the way we went into the second half and got arguably worse.“We just weren’t at it.

We looked so weak defensively.“I understand it a wee bit in the second half when you need to try and get back into the game and take elements risk, but some elements of our defending from long balls and goal kicks, with them able to put us under constant pressure, wasn’t good enough.“They didn’t do anything to deserve the four goals, other than the basics of football; play the game in our half, play the percentages well, gain second balls, win the initial ball.“We were far too static.

Even in the first half, Gal [Calum Gallagher] was getting into great positions along with Frizz [Adam Frizzell], but the runs elsewhere were either too early or they weren’t there at all.“I thought the