THERE is concern amongst the Beechwood Park faithful as Auchinleck Talbot suffered another defeat in what has been described as one of their “worst starts” in a decade.

Tommy Sloan’s side succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at home to Premier League high fliers Kirkintilloch Rob Roy which has seen them drop only three places above the relegation zone - though, of course, it is still early days.

It may still be too soon to use the phrase ‘turmoil’, however in last season’s second place Premier League finish, Talbot dropped only 28 points in 38 games - and have dropped 10 in only six matches this campaign, which is only 30 games long.

Saturday’s match was always going to be a stern test, against a Rob Roy side who have continued their excellent form from the tail end of last season into the start of this campaign - where they sit second in the league.

The challenge was made even more difficult when Jamie Ballantyne saw red when he lunged high and late into a 50/50 ball just before half time.

Though the score was still 0-0 at the half, Rob Roy made the man advantage count with a quickfire double only five minutes into the second 45.

The visitors were then reduced to ten men themselves just after the hour mark following a cheap second yellow card for kicking the ball away, sparking hope of a Talbot revival.

The East Ayrshire giants applied the pressure, had penalty appeals waved away, goal bound efforts cleared off the line, hit the woodwork and had goals ruled out, which replays suggest was incorrect, but to no avail until Keir Samson’s 86th minute penalty.

The final minutes saw no further scoring, and Rob Roy taking all three points.

It sparked some debate on the club’s social media with one man commenting “there’s definitely trouble in paradise”.

While another added this was “one of the worst starts to the season Auchinleck have had in about 10 years”.

Another looked on the brighter side saying: “Just wasn’t our day. The good thing about fitba is there’s always another game coming up.”