The dream is now officially over. The administrators ripped the heart out of Gretna FC in the past week by making 22 players and six coaches redundant and on Saturday the final insult arrived when the side were officially relegated from the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Such is the perilous state of the club that it looks increasingly unlikely they will recover from a season that started with optimism and goodwill and ended in the most painful manner with, to be frank, most people glad to see the back of them and the whole sorry affair.

The ten-point deduction for falling into administration effectively ended the relegation debate and this most comprehensive of 2-0 defeats simply confirmed what everyone has known for a long time. Gretna’s players for so long “lived the dream”, as they claimed, when the club’s millionaire owner, Brooks Mileson, was happily signing the pay cheques.

Those days are long gone. Mileson’s ill-health and decision to pull the plug on his £8 million plaything has resulted in the club’s youth system being brought to a shuddering halt and the senior players remaining on the staff wondering if they will be paid in the next two weeks.

Such is the sorry mess he has left behind, you can hardly blame the 80 or so Gretna supporters who made the trip to Paisley on Saturday to watch their now weekly defeat by the opposition. In such circumstances, the loyal few deserve enormous credit for backing beyond the call of duty. Maybe they want to be able to say to their grandchildren they were there when a team called Gretna mixed it with the big boys, as the fans of defunct clubs such as Third Lanark do to this day.

Craig Dargo, the St Mirren striker, had failed to find the net in his previous 13 starts since joining from Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the summer. Everyone, including the bookmakers, knew he would not be presented with a better opportunity to break his scoring duck against a side that was cobbled together from a playing squad comprising kids, loans and players actively talking to other clubs.

Dargo delivered with a powerful finish after 26 minutes before narrowly missing with a lob and also hitting the outside of the post. Billy Mehmet, another of St Mirren’s three strikers on show, finished the job shortly after half-time, firing home through a ruck of bodies.

Such is the paucity of options left for Gretna they have only one striker left on their books: a 17-year-old reserve by the name of Nathan Taylor, who came on in the later stages with the game lost. He has watched on as his fellow youngsters have had their contracts terminated with many now without clubs or a future.

“Hopefully, someone comes in and buys us so we can go straight back up,” Taylor said. “It would have been a miracle for us not to be relegated after what has happened. A lot of the lads didn’t think it would come to this, but it has and they just have to look for new clubs. I don’t know why I was kept on; it may be that I was the only striker left. If a club comes in for me then I have to look at it.”

Mick Wadsworth, the Gretna care- taker manager, was not at the game as he sought potential jobs in England. He left Andy Smith, the coach, and Iain Scott, the youth team manager, in charge to seal their fate.

“We are not looking any further than the end of the season because we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Smith said. “I really can’t say because I honestly don’t know. If someone comes in for any of the players then I have to be honest and tell them to seriously consider it as they have families to feed and bills to pay.”

St Mirren were backed heavily to win this game by a comfortable margin. The fact they did not suggests there is room for compassion even in a professional game.

St Mirren (3-4-3): C Smith 6 – J Potter 6, W Haining 6 (sub: M McAusland, 79min), I Maxwell 6 (sub: M Docherty, 61 3) – A Reid 6, H Murray 6, A Dorman 8, G Brady 6 – C Dargo 8, J Hamilton 6 (sub: S Kean, 70 3), B Mehmet 7. Substitutes not used: M Howard, R Brittain, M Corcoran, S McGinn.

Gretna (4-4-1-1): G Fleming 6 – K Naughton 5, D Hall 5 (sub: J Kissock, 56 7), R Meynell 5, G Skelton 5 – B McGill 5, A Osman 5, P Murray 7, R Baldacchino 5 (sub: N Taylor, 68 4) – N Deverdics 5 – B Wilkinson 5 (sub: C Barr, 46, 4). Substitutes not used: A Krysiak, S Hogg, R Griffiths, E Schultz-Eklund. Booked: Skelton.