Johnstone Burgh lost 3-2 at Ashfield in the Central District Second Division opening fixture.

Burgh found themselves three goals down after an hour, but two goals in as many minutes got them back in contention.

However, it turned out to be too little too late as Burgh were unable to rescue a point from the jaws of defeat.

Johnstone Burgh co-manager Colin Smith said: “I’m disappointed we didn’t get anything out of the game, I felt our performance in the second half at least deserved a draw.

“Having said that, we can’t play well for 45 minutes out of the 90 and expect to get a result as that just isn’t realistic.

“We gave away three poor goals which gave Ashfield something to hold onto and left ourselves with far too much work to do.

“We can take positives from the second half but we need to cut out the individual errors that lead to their goals as they’re costing us games.”

Ashfield got the action under way and they wouldn’t have to wait long for their first goal as they took the lead after only 15 minutes.

Barry Tulloch worked his way into the Burgh box before laying off Kristopher Griffin who fired his shot low into the corner of the net.

The hosts doubled their lead six minutes later when Lee Foggin curled a free kick into the net.

Kevin Lynch should have pulled one back for Burgh when the ball rebounded into his path, but he ended up putting his shot wide of the empty net.

Burgh were denied a penalty for a late challenge on Paul Sweeney who suffered a fractured foot as a result of the tackle.

Burgh would find themselves 3-0 down on the hour mark.

Chris Moulangou capitalised on a breakdown in communication between Stephen McGarrigle and goalkeeper Ryan Mailey to score the hosts third.

Striker Grant Kelly pulled one back for Burgh 15 minutes before the end with a spectacular scissor-kick volley.

The visitors then made it 3-2 two minutes later when Scot Cowan fired the ball low into the bottom corner of the net.

Burgh keeper Ryan Mailey was then called into action to prevent Moulangou and Hashim Cole from restoring Ashfield’s two goal lead.

As the match neared the end, Burgh pushed forward in search of an equaliser but it never came as the hosts held onto their 3-2 lead.

Johnstone Burgh welcome Dunipace to Keanie Park on Saturday for their first home league game of the new season.