East Fife boss Darren Young was at a loss to explain how his side suffered such a heavy defeat at the hands of league leaders Ayr on Saturday.
They deservedly took the lead through Chris Duggan and had chances to be at least another couple of goals up at the interval.
But Honest Men gaffer Ian McCall switched things up during the break, introducing Craig Moore. The striker inspired Ayr to a four-goal second-half romp.
Young said: “They caused us problems down there earlier in the season when they scored two goals from set-pieces.
“So we wanted to make it a bit harder for them, but then again they go and score two goals,” he said.
“The third was a poor headed clearance and they’ve broke on us from that.
“The fourth, Mark Docherty has misjudged it, it’s bounced over him and their guy has peeled off the centre-half and smashed it in from 25 yards.
“Overall, we got beat 4-1 but played some of our best football. That first 45 minutes we were saying ‘God, this is against the league leaders here’.
“But they showed why they are league leaders.”
He added: “The manner of the goals was sickening.”
The only thing missing for all their early dominance was a goal, but it soon arrived in style.
Aaron Dunsmore sliced open the Ayr back line and picked out Chris Duggan, who slid his finish beyond Jordan Hart.
Then came the break, and with it a seismic shift.
Ayr were level when Mike Rose headed home, before Rose netted again, once more from a corner.
Craig Moore eased the leaders into a two-goal advantage when he beat Mark Hurst.
The impressive Lawrence Shankland then got the goal he deserved, scoring from 25 yards.