WATCH: Huntly manager Allan Hale reacts to heavy Scottish Cup defeat at Pollok and urges men to respond for Highland League trip to Lossiemouth
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Big spending Glaswegians Pollok handed out a six-goal Scottish Cup lesson to Huntly on a frustrating night for Christie Park boss Allan Hale.
The West of Scotland League side may be full of former SPFL players and command a bigger budget than most Highland League outfits, but the margin of last Friday's loss was an eye-opener for Hale.
Watch Scottish Cup YouTube channel highlights from Friday's tie.
He watched his team collapse in the final quarter of the match, and is eager to see a response to the loss when Huntly visit Lossiemouth on league business this weekend.
"We had a really poor half hour in the second half that made the scoreline a lot more disappointing than it should have been," Hale said.
"I was really disappointed with that in terms of the mentality and the mindset of the group to just keep doing the things that we work on in a weekly basis.
"We knew it was hard task going down there but I don’t expect us to lose 6-0 to anyone. That was a hard one to take.
"We did our research on them and knew that every single one of their players had experience of playing in the SPFL. Apart from Kyle Dalling, who has had a handful of games at that level, I don’t really think we’ve got many who have that experience.
"So we knew the task and the big crowd was the one for us, how the players would experience coming up against a crowd of 1000 where 95 per cent of them would be on your back for the whole game, which was the case.
"Some handled the occasion OK and some didn’t, and the overall experience in the second half when Pollok got their tails up and got the quick third and fourth, our reaction was disappointing.
"I don’t think our players played to their capabilities on the night. In saying that we also had opportunities at 1-0 and 2-0 to get back into the game, Adam (Morris) hit the post at the start of the second half and I’m not saying that would have changed the game but our tails would have been up and it would have given them a bit of pressure to respond to."
Two early goals put Huntly on the back foot, scored by Stuart McCann and Darren Christie.
It remained 2-0 until midway through the second half when the home side stepped up their efforts and experienced ex-Annan and Stenhousemuir striker Christie grabbed his second of the night.
Former Elgin City and Ross County stopper David Brownlie, once on the books of Rangers, quickly added a fourth and ex-Morton man Jonathan Lyon made it 5-0 before a late strike by Adam Forde, who has SPFL experience with Stranraer, completed the rout.
Huntly return to league business on Saturday with a tricky trip to Lossiemouth, who gave Buckie Thistle a Scottish Cup scare last week before going down 2-1.
"The good thing about football is that every time you lose a game, you’ve got the next game to try and respond," said Hale.
"I do expect some sort of response from our players in terms of that final half hour at Pollok.
"We spoke about that on Monday at training, what is acceptable.
"It’s a really tough game, I’ve got a huge amount of respect for Lossiemouth and I’ve said that ever since I walked in the door. It’s very evident when you play them that they are well-organised, they have a good structure and good pace on the counter attack.
"They have players who can score goals within their shape and they are very solid. We beat them 4-0 last season but we have played them five or six times since I became manager here and every other game was really close and keenly-contested and decided by fine margins.
"So we are expecting something similar on Saturday. From what I hear they ran Buckie really close on Saturday, which is no mean feat, and their results have really picked up so we are under no illusions about how difficult a game it is."
Huntly have managed just one league win this season - Deveronvale on August 27 - but Hale said his team is gradually coming to terms with the departure of and injury to several key players before and during the campaign.
"Tom Ritchie went back to Aberdeen, Jack MacIver ended up at Formartine and we lost Michael Dangana, Logan Johnstone, Fergus Alberts, Greg Buchan. Glenn Murison and Cameron Heslop are away and Michael Clark was injured up until the last few weeks.
"We’ve had injuries to Zander (Jack), (Alex) Thoirs, Coco (Colin Charlesworth) and Angus (Grant). So it’s been really difficult and unsettling.
"We were heading into the summer with a lot of optimism and having lost those players, we have taken in some in when we have had the opportunities to do it. I still feel we are light in terms of certain areas but there is not a lot we can do at the minute.
"We still have a strong eleven, you saw that in games against Formartine and Buckie when our organisation was good. So we do have quality on the day and if we play well we can pick up wins and points.
"We just need to do the basics well and make sure that we work hard for every game so that is what we are drumming into the players.
"Once we get that couple of wins, hopefully we can kick on and the players can play with a bit more freedom in their play and we can get a run of results to get us climbing up the table.
"There is never an easy game in this league, every game is a battle and a challenge and all it takes is for two or three of your players to have an off-day and you end up getting beat.
"What we are finding out is that there’s very small margins within the 90 minutes and we just have to try and take advantage of the opportunities that you are presented with and not concede too much at the other end."
Huntly have midfielder Ross Still suspended for their Grant Park visit.
