Clachnacuddin manager Jordan MacDonald felt a point was the least his side deserved after the Lilywhites staged a late fightback to draw 2-2 with Forres Mechanics.
The Inverness outfit looked destined for defeat after falling two an early two-goal deficit, courtesy of strikes from Can-Cans forwards Lee Fraser and Paul Brindle.
Clach’s cause was not helped when on-loan Caley Thistle defender Lewis Nicolson was shown a second yellow card midway through the second half.
James Anderson’s penalty, which Mechanics boss Charlie Rowley described as a “soft” award, gave Clach a lifeline on 87 minutes, before Liam Taylor turned home Anderson’s cross.
Forres were also reduced to 10 men in the closing stages, with Owen Patterson shown his marching orders.
MacDonald was thrilled with his side’s resolve, and he said: “I’m delighted for them. They deserved more than one point with the chances we created.
“The response the players gave us from the disappointment of Wednesday against Strathspey Thistle, for young players I thought they were absolutely fantastic.
“Forres are a very hard team to play against, they are very good at what they do. We started the game really well but we gave two goals away very quickly. We never let our heads go down though.
“If you had offered me a point before we went to Forres I would have bitten your hand off, but with the chances we created we felt we should have won the game.”
Mechanics boss Rowley was frustrated to squander the lead, and he said: “From being in such a positive position again, we were looking at three points but we got one instead.
“It’s an ongoing issue that we don’t seem to see out games as we should do.
“We were 2-0 up and we weren’t in complete control by any stretch of the imagination but we had a spell where we created three or four great chances. We should have made it a three-goal scoreline if not four.”
Brora Rangers ran out 8-0 winners over Fort William at Dudgeon Park, with the Cattachs making it back-to-back wins following their midweek North of Scotland Cup triumph over Wick Academy.
Doubles from Tom Kelly, Dale Gillespie and Gregor MacDonald, along with strikes by Josh Meekings and Matthew Wright, secured a convincing win for the Sutherland outfit.
Brora interim boss Craig Campbell said: “There were a lot of positives. I thought we improved a little bit against Wick in midweek, but I felt we could improve a lot on that performance and I think we did.
“We tried to play the game the right way and we got the goals we deserved. We did have a couple of sloppy moments defensively where they got in behind us, but overall it was pleasing.
“We are team that likes to defend well and we’ve been conceding a lot of goals which is a bit unusual for ourselves. We were putting the emphasis on getting back to recording clean sheets, but we scored a few which was an added bonus.
“It’s a good confidence booster for the boys.”
Chairman William Powrie has stepped down from his role at Brora, ending a six-year stint with the Sutherland club.
Powrie said: “I took the decision just a week and a half ago. There was no animosity at all.
“It was purely down to time factors, with my business very busy at the moment. I just couldn’t give it my full attention.
“Timing a boardroom decision like that can always be difficult and I also felt, with Steven Mackay leaving as manager, if I could leave at the same time it would spare the club another disruption one or two months down the line.
“I’d been chairman for five years and on the board for six and everybody has an expiry date on their forehead.
“I felt the time was right time for me, and for the club as well, to step back.
“I’ll still very much be there as a supporter, but that’s my formal involvement finished now.”
