Elgin City boss Gavin Price was pleased with his side’s battling point against third-placed Forfar at Station Park.
The result leaves the Black and Whites sitting in seventh spot and 10 points above bottom of the table Cowdenbeath, who have two games in hand.
“It was a really hard fought draw,” Price said.
“We’ve had four really close games with Forfar now, which for us is slightly frustrating because we should be further up the league.
“But this was another really good performance against a really good side.
“It backs up last week’s win over Stirling and just breathes a bit more confidence into the side.
“We’re in the midst of a really tough run of games now where we play the top four but this was a good start to that run.
“Hopefully we can now start to look up the table a little bit rather than behind us and every point makes us that a wee bit more comfortable.”
Price felt his side could have departed Station Park with a victory.
He said: “Maybe we could have got the three points.
“I thought we probably had the better chances. Marc (McCallum) made an absolutely unbelievable save in the first half but equally we got the rub of the green with the decisions so I think a draw was fair in the end.
“On another day we might have come away with a win so that is really encouraging going into another tough away game at Annan.”
Elgin had the better chances, although Forfar felt they had two strong penalty claims turned down by referee Daniel Graves.
The first shout came after 11 minutes when Forfar striker Stefan McCluskey drove his way towards the corner of the box and was fell under pressure from Angus Mailer.
Graves angered the home crowd by signalling for a free kick right on the corner of the penalty area rather than a penalty and goalkeeper Dan Hoban did well to parry the set-piece to safety.
Elgin almost grabbed the lead in the 18th minute.
Russell Dingwall’s free kick was flicked towards goal by Darryl McHardy from eight yards and looked to be heading for the corner. The centre back was almost wheeling away to celebrate before Forfar ‘keeper Marc McCallum shifted his weight and stuck out a hand to divert the ball over the bar. McHardy looked in disbelief as he applauded the stopper for his incredible save.
Forfar’s other penalty claim came with 15 minutes to go when Scott Shepherd went down in the area following a challenge from Matthew Cooper. Again referee Graves waved play on.
Here is our team lineup for todays match against @ForfarAthletic
Come on City! 🖤⚽️ pic.twitter.com/AhD8KY80EZ
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) March 5, 2022
The Black and Whites almost snatched the points eight minutes from time. Rabin Omar’s cross was allowed to bounce in the box and Aiden Sopel capitalised but he could only direct his header over the bar from all of four yards.
City would have to survive an onslaught in the closing stages including a late scramble in the box to hold on for a point which moves them 10 points clear of the dreaded relegation play off spot.
Price now takes his men on the long trip to high-flying Annan where they will look to solidify seventh position in the cinch League Two table.
