Edinburgh City 0-1 Annan Athletic: 'Not good enough' says Gary Naysmith after costly goalkeeping error

Gary Naysmith described it as a “terrible goal” and fears it is becoming a habit after his Edinburgh City side slipped out of the League Two play-off berths in an uninspiring 1-0 defeat to Annan Athletic.

Brian Schwake's goalkeeping error proved to be costly for Edinburgh City

Tommy Goss scored the only goal of the game in the 11th minute at Ainslie Park after an error from goalkeeper Brian Schwake presented the striker with an opportunity he simply couldn't pass up.

The Citizens drop to fifth while Annan move above their opponents into third.

Manager Gray Naysmith said: "There was part of me a little bit unsure of how we'd play given the players we are missing. We gave away a terrible goal, we tried to change it but it had the opposite effect.

“There's no doubt Annan deserved to win. We've got into a real bad habit of losing poor goals recently so it's not good enough. We need a response."

The injury curse that has plagued Gary Naysmith' s thread-bare squad for much of the season reared its ugly head again as the manager made four changes from the side that saw off East of Scotland Premier Division outfit Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale 2-1 in last weekend's Scottish Cup third-round tie.

Out dropped Danny Handling, Callum Tapping, Jonny Jarron and Alex Ferguson, the latter dropping to the bench, with Lucas Berry, James Hilton, Chris Kane and Lewis Kidd afforded opportunities from the start.

The visitors' goal arrived in rather fortuitous circumstances. Defender Dave McKay played a pass back towards goalkeeper Brian Schwake and the American's attempted clearance rebounded off the onrushing Goss. The Annan striker won the race to the loose ball and had the simplest of tasks in knocking the ball home into an empty net.

City struggled to find a response, although John Robertson, who was earlier this week voted League Two player of the month, tried his luck from what looked like an impossible angle. Positioned just a yard from the touchline, the 20-year-old curled an effort across goal but it dropped a foot past the far post in what was a disjointed first-half display from the hosts.

Ferguson entered the fray just after the hour mark and within five minutes he saw his strike from outside the box deflect wide.

Stephen Bronsky cleared Iain Anderson's header off the line as Annan looked to wrap up the points but, in truth, City never looked like finding a route back into the game.

Edinburgh City: Schwake, Bronsky, See, Hilton (Farrell 72), Berry (Smith 61), Kane (Reekie 82), Kidd, Brian, Murray, Robertson, McKay (Ferguson 61). Sub: Quate.

Annan Athletic: Fleming, Barnes, Clark, Moxon, Douglas, Swinglehurst, Hunter, Docherty (Fleming 85), Smith (Garrity 78), Goss (Anderson 78), Johnstone (Wallace 63). Subs: Adamson, Birch, Purdue, McCartney, Steele.

Referee: Stewart Luke.

Attendance: 219.