In the war of attrition that Arbroath v Cove Rangers became, football never looked like being the winner.
The game was a battle, two sides figuratively and literally scrapping for points to stay away from the bottom end of the Championship.
It appeared Arbroath would come out on the right side of it. Michael McKenna’s early header, which deflected in off Shay Logan, looked to have given the Gayfield side all three points.
But a tempestuous affair, dominated by referee Chris Graham, was levelled at the death as former Red Lichties midfielder Blair Yule grabbed an equaliser.
Cove boss Jim McIntyre felt it was the least his side deserved, as they maintained a five-point gap between the two sides.
“We deserved a point,” said McIntyre. “There’s two stone-wall penalties we should have and Arbroath should have had one as well, for the high foot (from Charlie Gilmour).
“We showed great spirit because we didn’t play well. We made a lot of misplaced passes and couldn’t get ourselves going.
“My goalie has not had a save to make. For all there was a battle out there, there was not a lot of goal incidents.
“A point was a fair result – I don’t think either of us did enough to win it.”
The performance of Graham drew the ire of many around Gayfield, with the official waving off a number of penalty shouts for both sides.
Cove felt that Gerry McDonagh was fouled inside the box by McKenna but Graham was not interested, while Yule was bundled into by Ricky Little as he was through on goal in the second half. He tried to carry on rather than go to ground, which may have persuaded Graham not to give it.
Arbroath had two penalty shouts in the first half, one against Jack Sanders for an apparent push on Kieran Shanks and another for a high foot from Charlie Gilmour on David Gold.
“I can’t understand why a couple of those penalty incidents – for both teams – weren’t given,” added McIntyre. “For me, they’re stone-wallers. They’re the type of decisions you need to get right.
“The Hamilton game I’ve never had something like that happen in 30 years – an indirect free-kick given in the box – so it’s a new one on me. I’ve never seen it given and I spoke to four or five other managers and they were the same.
“I don’t really want to go on about the referee. I would rather talk about how we battled back when we didn’t play well.
“If Blair goes down rather than being honest – he’s totally unbalanced – that’s another definite penalty. Blair thought he could score and you’ve got to give him credit for that.”
Cove through bodies and balls forward in a bid to level the game but appeared to be heading for defeat, as Arbroath repelled each at attack at will.
The key moment came from a knock-down from substitute Leighton McIntosh, with the ball breaking to Yule and his angled effort crept beyond Derek Gaston into the far corner.
“I’m delighted for him,” added McIntyre. “He had a jag in his ankle so he’s not trained all week.
“I’m pleased he managed to make the game today. He was sore in the warm-up and basically put his body forward to keep playing on.”
ARBROATH (4-4-1-1) – Gaston 6; Oakley 7 (Fosu 71), O’Brien 6, Little 6, Hamilton 6, McKenna 7, Gold 6, Jacobs 6 (Tait 71), Linn 7 (Corfe 58), Allan 6 (Hoti 65), Shanks 5 (Hilson 65). Subs not used – Gill, Hancock, Isiaka.
COVE RANGERS (4-4-2) – McKenzie 6; Johnston 5, Sanders 5, Reynolds 6, Logan 6, Fyvie 5 (Dunne 75), Yule 6, Gilmour 6, Scully 6 (Masson 75), McDonagh 5 (McIntosh 56), Megginson 5 (Vigurs 90). Subs not used – Gourlay, Ross, Towler, Neill, Leitch.
Referee – Chris Graham 4.
Attendance – 1,706.