Elgin City manager Barry Wilson felt his side’s 4-0 defeat by Albion Rovers last night could have been a different story had early chances been converted by the Black and Whites.
Rovers ran out comfortable winners thanks to Scott Chaplain’s double and goals from Mick Dunlop and Gary Phillips.
However, Wilson bemoaned his side’s luck at the end of a frustrating night at Borough Briggs.
Wilson said: “Some of the better football we’ve played this season and the best chances came in the opening 10 minutes. Dennis Wyness made a massive difference and was excellent for us but he missed two great chances that he’d normally score in his sleep.
“Each time they went up the park and scored and it made things difficult for us. We kept playing but their goalkeeper kept making save after save and everything they hit just kept going in.
“People will look at the score and say it’s a thumping but anyone at the game will know that on another night we could have scored a few goals ourselves and maybe prevented a couple as well. When you are where we are things don’t go for you.”
Wyness looked to make an early impression, unleashing a 20 yard shot after just 90 seconds that Neil Parry did well to save.
Rovers took the lead on five minutes when Alan Reid’s looping cross picked out Scott Chaplain, whose header had too much power for City goalkeeper Michael Fraser. On nine minutes Wyness thought he was picking his spot when Archie MacPhee’s inch-perfect cross landed on his head at the far post, only to be denied by an outstanding save by Parry.
City certainly didn’t deserve to be one goal down but just a minute later they found themselves trailing 2-0.
A corner forced Fraser off his line to beat clear but the ball only reached Mick Dunlop, who initially looked to have mishit his effort, but it found its way into the far corner to give the hosts a mountain to climb.
The Coatbridge men made it 3-0 on the half-hour mark when Chaplain dispossessed Matthew Cooper on the halfway line, before running in to slot his second past Fraser.
Parry made fine stops to deny Gordon Finlayson and Wyness but Elgin were unable to pull one back prior to half-time.
Elgin were inches from finding the net on 50 minutes when Craig Gunn flicked Marvin Andrews’ knockdown off the underside of the bar, following MacPhee’s corner, before Gunn’s shot on the turn was deflected wide moments later.
Gunn was presented with a third opportunity in a matter of minutes after being played through by Graeme Beveridge but his loose first touch allowed Parry to smother.
Rovers’ clinical finishing continued on 56 minutes as they netted their first attempt of the second half when a corner was cleared only as far as Phillips, whose half-volley trickled past Fraser to make the final score 4-0 to the Lanarkshire outfit.