Manager Nick Ironton didn't mince his words after watching his Welwyn Garden City side lose to St Neots Town - branding the performance as "shameful".

A double from Joe Rider and singles for Myles Cowling and Nehemiah Richard-Noel gave Saints a 4-1 win at Herns Lane in what was a dominant display by the visitors in the Southern League match.

Jordan Kinoshi replied late on but it was way too little and way too late and Ironton said the Citizens produced the worst display of his three-year tenure.

He said: "I’ve probably only has two poor performances in that time but that was shameful.

"It’s just not a team that epitomises Welwyn Garden City.

"We were outplayed from the first minute to the 80th. We had a good spell in the last 10 minutes but we looked tired, legless and with no concept of how the game is played.

"We didn’t listen to instructions and St Neots totally bossed the game and thoroughly deserved their win."

The defeat could, in a very dark way, actually be a blessing in disguise though as the boss has been expecting a defeat to come soon, even if the capitulation was worse than he predicted.

Ironton said: "We haven’t played well all season, I’m not going to sugar-coat it.

"Yes, this is only our second loss but this has been on the cards really.

"We haven’t got it down, we haven’t played and we haven’t got it to the forwards but usually we don’t concede goals.

"We just have to refocus and get back to basics but if we keep playing like that we won’t win again this season.

"I don’t sometimes care how you play but you have to have a bit of heart. You have to run around; you have to put your head in and get your tackles in.

"We got what we deserved, a 4-1 beating, and it was a good beating. They bossed the midfield and that’s where they won the game.

"It’s a shame really because we have the nucleus of a good squad and it's a rarity for this to happen."

They do get a chance to respond quickly with a Southern League Cup tie at Royston Town on Tuesday preceding a huge clash at Bedford Town in the FA Cup on Saturday.

"That's the good thing about football," said Ironton. "It doesn’t matter if you play bad or well, there is always another chance to redeem things.

"I’m going to give some minutes to players who haven’t played on Tuesday but I want a reaction.

"I want people to want to be at this club and if they don’t then there is no problem, they can go.

"If we play like that against Bedford, we’re in for a big, big shock."