Elgin boss Gavin Price was thrilled by the reaction of his players after they bounced back from a disappointing week to stun the league leaders on their own patch.
City travelled to The Rock having lost their previous two encounters against Stranraer and Albion Rovers, though produced an excellent display to record their first league win in seven encounters.
Price’s side were well worthy of their victory in a game in which they passed up numerous chances, and the Borough Briggs boss was delighted to see a return to the standards he sets on what was a challenging surface.
He said: “We got a massive reaction after a disappointing week.
“In the defeats to Stranraer and Albion Rovers we were miles off the standard that we hope to set.
“We did well in all aspects of the game – we defended well, worked really hard as a team, were brave on the ball and created numerous chances that could have made the win more comfortable.”
Kane Hestler prodded home the opener for City after 16 minutes, but despite creating numerous chances they were unable to extend their advantage.
That lack of cutting edge came back to haunt them when Ryan Blair’s stunning free kick on the stroke of half-time flew past Thomas McHale to draw the hosts level.
The decision to award the free kick angered Price who picked-up a yellow card for his protests.
However, despite suffering late disappointment in the first half, City came up with the perfect response five minutes after the restart.
Hester struck the inside of the post before Mitchell Taylor was chopped down allowing Tony Dingwall to step up and dispatch the resulting penalty.
TEAM LINES
Here's how we are looking against Dumbarton this afternoon.
Kick off in 1 hour!
Come on the City! ⚫️⚪️ pic.twitter.com/P5yUtJL9LM
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) February 25, 2023
And Elgin saw the game out with relative ease, creating the better of the scoring opportunities.
“I thought we should have been further ahead in the first half and then we end up taking that dunt – I was worried given the recent run of results it could have knocked us for six,” Price added.
“The reaction in the second half is what we are most pleased with – we kept going, creating chances and deserved to win the game.
“It wasn’t a free kick, if you are giving a free kick for those sort of decisions, you are going to have 150 a game – I was angry with the decision and it’s not the first time this season.”
Victory sees Elgin move up two places to fifth following – just two points off a play-off position.
However, the tight-knit nature of the league table means that the Black and Whites are still only six points ahead of ninth with a home fixture against bottom side Bonnyrigg Rose up next.
Price admits he’s somewhat unsure of whether he should be looking up or down, but is relishing another big game on Saturday.
“You don’t know which way to look – up, down, sideways,” Price laughed.
“We don’t get too far ahead of ourselves, next week is another cup final where we need to look to get three points.”
Conversation