Largs Thistle 0 Kilsyth 2 This was desperately dismal from toothless Thistle who tumbled to second bottom spot in the Stagecoach First Division after a first half to forget.

Thistle have only recorded two wins out of a possible ten which is clearly not good enough. The relegation trapdoor is particularly unforgiving with four teams going down.

Make no doubt about it - a major turnaround is needed to prevent Largs from plunging into the Ayrshire District League. The danger signals have been there for all to see in the last two games.

Largs opened proceedings in the opening ten minutes buzzing around, looking fresh, but it didn’t last long as they retreated into their own half after the first sign of pressure from Kilsyth.

There were a few sporadic attacks from Largs who carved open two good goalscoring opportunities in the first half, but in reality, they struggled for most of this match.

The visitors created the first meaningful chance as Paul McBride overcame a challenge from Creag Little but his fierce shot was blocked by Largs keeper Grant Weir.

A Stuart Livingstone free kick whizzed past the right post, and McBride’s well struck half-volley zipped by the left post, as Kilsyth were looking threatening.

Falkirk target Nicky Prentice’s blazing run down the left and cross set up Mark Duffy who seemed certain to score but fortunately shot straight at Weir with the goal gaping.

Largs were completely on the backfoot but engineered a great chance after clever play from Alan Frizzell who met Sean Lawrence’s visionary 20 yard pass on the right, and hit a vicious shot on the turn which was blocked by Kilsyth keeper Paul Smith at his near post.

But the away side punished Largs on 32 minutes as Phil Dolan tormented the Largs defence down the left with his quick pace before sending in an unstoppable shot into the far right corner from an acute angle.

Largs responded with Lawrence picking up McDonald’s pass on the left hand side, turning his man and rocketing an effort off the left post. Thistle were genuinely unlucky not to have found an equaliser, but Kilsyth had the killer instinct to double their lead on 40 minutes.

Mark Duffy took advantage of a throughball which was not cut out by the Largs defence, as Little clattered to the ground, giving Duffy the simple opportunity to fire a 12 yard half-volley high into the net beyond the exposed Weir.

Largs fared better in the second half as the midfield got a stronger grip on the contest, with trialist Gary Fleming providing some additional bite, but it was too little too late, with James Marks one of the few to breach the Kilsyth defence via the left channel. He turned his man but his curling shot with the outside of his right foot was punched away by Smith.

Subs Willie McClure and Archie Nicol also entered the fray but couldn’t turn the tide for Thistle.

Muir’s unorthodox back heel volley from Struthers cross on the right flashed wide of the right post as Largs struggled to break through, but Kilsyth nearly made it three as Prentice burst clear only to be denied by a Weir block late on.

After knocking Largs out of the Scottish Cup at the start of 2014, Kilsyth have now done the double over Largs in the league to boost their survival chances in the cut-throat First Division.

They were more physical and aggressive in their approach and gained a deserved victory. As for Largs, it was a another haphazard display at home, with very few positive points to take from another lacklustre showing. It is beguiling as Thistle have shown against Hurlford, Sauchie and Yoker, that they can play very well at times, but these performances have been fleeting, and Sandy MacLean’s young side need a major resurgence to prevent dropping down two divisions in a row.

Largs: Weir, Keogh, Gilbride, Little, Jamieson, McDonald, Frizzell, Muir, Marks, Struthers, Lawrence. Subs: McClure, McNicol, Fleming, Lindsay, Pierce.