Arbroath boss Todd Lumsden criticised his side’s second-half performance after they were well beaten by Stirling Albion at Forthbank.
Bobby Linn gave the visitors a first-half lead but former Dundee United midfielder Willie Robertson equalised early in the second period and, despite having keeper Chris Smith sent off on the hour-mark, it was the Binos who went on to claim all three points.
Arbroath had lost on only one of their last 14 visits to this ground but a header from Ross Smith and a Steven Doris penalty lifted Stirling to sixth in the table and Arbroath’s misery was compounded when Ricky Little saw red for dissent in stoppage time.
Lumsden said: “It was a disappointing second half after being a goal up at half-time and looking pretty comfortable.
“We just fell apart in the second half there is no other way to dress it up.
“Even when Stirling went down to 10 men, which should have been a chance for us, the players didn’t do their jobs it’s as simple as that.
“Last week we came out against East Fife in the second half and our performance was excellent.
“We were looking for more of the same but Stirling were on the front foot more than us.”
Albion manager Stuart McLaren said: “That’s only two defeats in 11 games now and the second half showed the quality and team spirit we have here.
“I was always confident we could get back in the game because we created a number of good chances in the first half.”
Both David Verlaque and Kevin McKinlay had efforts cleared off the line, either side of a bad miss by Bobby Linn, who broke the deadlock in 20 minutes with a fine finish into the corner from 18 yards.
Robertson converted a perfect cross from Verlaque to equalise 10 minutes after the break before home keeper Chris Smith felled Linn just outside the box and was sent off.
Ross Smith nodded in a Doris cross on 78 minutes and ex-Arbroath forward Doris converted a penalty four minutes later after Verlaque had been impeded.