Elgin earned a battling point in a dramatic game against Forfar, despite finishing the Station Park encounter with just nine men.
Manager Gavin Price praised his side’s resilience, even given they were ahead twice.
“There is an element of disappointment we’ve not won the game,” Price said.
“We led twice and put so much in to the game but ultimately after playing 50 minutes with ten men and to finish with nine we have to be satisfied that we managed to get something from the game.
“We get ourselves ahead but then we gave them too much control and then we had the double whammy of a penalty and the sending off.
“That causes a huge momentum shift and the second half was really about attitudes and we came through the test with flying colours.
“We knew we would be up against an onslaught and we’ve stuck to the task.
“I am really proud of the players even if I’m gutted we couldn’t hold on for the win.”
Price’s men got off to the perfect start, taking the lead after four minutes when goalkeeper Thomas McHale launched a ball high over the Forfar defence leaving Kane Hester with the easy task of lobbing Marc McCallum from the edge of the box.
The next half hour was quiet but the game ignited when Darren Whyte’s goal-bound header was instinctively beaten away by the hand of midfielder Brian Cameron on the goal-line. A red card for him and a penalty to Forfar was the result, with Matty Aitken coolly slotting away from the spot.
City were under the cosh and the hosts almost took the lead just after half time when Craig Slater struck the bar with a free kick from range but it was Elgin who regained their advantage in the 67th minute.
Rory MacEwan looked to latch onto a long free kick but was clattered into by Forfar keeper McCallum.
Building on match
Russell Dingwall kept his head after a long stoppage to roll the penalty past the stopper.
Forfar thought they were level moments later when Andy Munro nodded in a free kick but the flag was raised for offside, much to the fury of the home fans.
The Black and Whites’ resistance caved in the 82nd minute. Some lovely interplay between Tarek Abed and Slater combined to find Stefan McCluskey on the byline. The striker flashed across goal for substitute Ben Armour to tap in.
Referee Daniel Graves turned down three separate Forfar penalty shouts before the match was out but did show a second yellow to Angus Mailer for timewasting in stoppage time as City desperately clung on to their point.
Price will now be without both Cameron and Mailer for the visit of Stranraer next week but he stressed the importance of a strong home performance from the rest of his squad.
He said: “We have a big squad for a reason, we need everybody to play their part and we need to build on today.
“We have to put in strong performances and try get results, especially at Borough Briggs.
“We need to make Elgin a place teams don’t want to come and try make Borough Briggs a fortress.”
