Dunipace's defensive woes prove costly in defeat

A double from David Grant and a Sam Colley effort wasn’t enough on the day as Smith’s side lost for the first time this campaign in the East of Scotland First Division.

“We let ourselves down to be honest,” he said looking back on the game. "Defensively it has to be so much better.

"At the moment, in order to win a game, we are looking at having to score three or four goals and that isn’t on.

"If we the game finished six or seven to them it wouldn’t have been an injustice.

“Our aim is to improve upon last year’s league finish and in order to do that we need to be solid at the back.

"Everyone can beat everyone in this division but it was a poor result, especially at home, where we are usually so strong and resolute."

The Pace now have a break from league action, with a Scottish Cup preliminary round tie away to Wigtown & Bladnoch on Saturday.

"We’ll give them the respect they deserve,” Smith said of the South of Scotland side. “They will think at home they have a right good chance of causing an upset.

"This is the senior Scottish Cup, not the juniors and every team has quality.

"We would love to get through a few rounds and do the fairy-tale stuff.

"But to do that we need to take care of this game in a professional manner.

"The main thing is to get any negative thoughts out the system because we have still started the season well.”