JOHNSTONE Burgh boss Jamie McKim was left to rue another penalty miss as they were knocked out of the South Challenge Cup.

The Keanie Park outfit had the chance to edge past Greenock Juniors on Saturday but Brian Connor failed to convert a crucial second half spot-kick, which led to the match going to extra-time.

And that miss proved to be costly, as it was Greenock who netted late on to secure a 2-1 victory.

It was Burgh’s fourth penalty miss this season, with McKim later revealing it is a problem they have been working on.

He told Gazette Sport: “We’ve had an issue with penalties so far this year. I think we’ve missed four, which is very unusual.

“We’ve spoken as a coaching team about working on them but I believe it’s a mental thing. You can’t replicate the matchday feeling in training, so it’s difficult.”

McKim also insisted Connor has quickly been forgiven for Saturday’s miss.

“Normally Brian would put his penalty away but we’re not going to crucify him for it,” added McKim.

“He’s been great since he came in.”

Craig Brown opened the scoring for Greenock early on before Jay Keenan pulled Burgh level late in the first half as he continued his recent goalscoring form after being teed up by fellow development squad graduate Aidan McLaughlin, who was making his senior debut.

Connor’s missed penalty with 20 minutes to go meant the game went to extra-time and James Marks capitalised on hesitant Burgh defending after 115 minutes to secure Greenock’s place in the third round.

McKim believes his team created enough chances to deserve victory.

He said: “We had between six and eight really good chances that we didn’t take. There was the penalty and at least three one-on-ones with the goalkeeper.

“If we play like that every week, we’ll win a lot more than we lose. I was really happy with the performance but we gave away two cheap goals.

“We created a lot of chances and were by far the better team on the day but we just didn’t finish them. You need to give Greenock credit for being clinical.”

Next up for Burgh is a trip to Tayside this Saturday for a Scottish Junior Cup tie against Dundee East Craigie.

Kick-off at Craigie Park is at 2.30pm.