Elgin City suffered a 3-0 home defeat against Stirling Albion to leave them in more trouble near the foot of the League Two table.
City slumped to ninth, just three points above bottom side Albion Rovers in the battle to avoid a relegation play-off for SPFL survival.
Black and Whites manager Gavin Price pointed to the errors in his team’s display but said there were positive aspects to bring out of his team’s performance.
“I couldn’t get angry with the players after the game because the things we demanded of them, the enthusiasm, the effort and the encouragement was all there today,” he said.
“There were a lot of good things from us out there but we’ve lost the match 3-0 and it’s three errors that cost us those three goals.
“When you look at the shots on goal and the possession stats, there’s nothing really in it. The difference was that we gifted them their goals, they took their chances clinically and we didn’t.”
The teams meet again at Forthbank on Tuesday night with Stirling buoyant from going five points clear at the top and eager to use their game in hand to build up an almost unassailable lead at the top.
In sheer contrast, Elgin desperately need points on the board and Price sees the rematch as a perfect opportunity to put things right.
He said: “We’ve not got to beat ourselves up, we’ve got to fight back and we’ve got another chance on Tuesday to put it right.
“There’s seven games left and the games will come thick and fast so we’ve got to take forward all the positive aspects, and there were some.”
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Here's our starting line-up to face Stirling Albion this afternoon.
Come on the City! pic.twitter.com/EdrgbZakcx
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) April 1, 2023
Elgin defender Darryl McHardy slipped for one of the Stirling goals and failed to deal with a through ball leading to Stirling’s decisive third, but he said now is not the time for finger-pointing.
“Individual errors are costing us and we all need to stand up and take responsibility,” McHardy said.
“Bonnyrigg won again today and I think the boys need to start realising that if we don’t start picking up points, we could be in the relegation mix.
“We have to take it on the chin and go down there on Tuesday believing we can win the game and get back up the league.”
Elgin keeper Daniel Hoban had a good save early on from Jack Leitch’s powerful shot.
But it was the visitors who drew first blood on 14 minutes, Ross Davidson returning a poor Hoban kick back into the box where Aaron Dunsmore reacted quickest to send a delightful lob back over Hoban into the net.
It got worse for the home side on 25 minutes when a slip by McHardy handed possession to Dunsmore, who slid a fine pass through to Dale Carrick to slide home his 21st goal of the season.
Elgin were showing plenty of attacking endeavour with top scorer Kane Hester’s mazy run thwarted by a last ditch tackle in the box, then McHardy’s header being cleared off the line by a Stirling defender just before the break.
But home mistakes continued, with City defender Jake Dolzanski fluffing a clearance to allow Robert Thomson to break and cross for Josh Cooper, who fired a six-yard sitter wide on 49 minutes.
Another home mistake saw McHardy miss a long ball through the centre and Thomson this time went through on his own to slide the Binos into a 3-0 lead on 52 minutes.
City then spurned a double chance on 63 minutes when Hester went through on goal but saw his effort saved by Blair Currie before Andy Tod headed the rebound wide with the keeper stranded.
Nine minutes from time, Hester cut in to force a good save out of Currie, who then got up to dive full stretch and push away Rory MacEwan’s rebound hit.
Hester also fired just past in stoppage time but Stirling already had the points comfortably in the bag.
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