Peterhead’s winless run extended to five after they suffered a 3-0 defeat against title-chasing Falkirk.
Blue Toon boss Jim McInally had no complaints with Falkirk controlling proceedings after taking the lead inside 10 minutes.
He said: “We never gave ourselves much of a chance with the start of the game that we had. We again conceded too early.”
The early goal came courtesy of a Lee Miller finish, the player/co-manager calmly slotting a low finish past Greg Fleming from 12 yards.
Miller was a thorn in the side of the Peterhead defence all afternoon and gave loanee defender Luc Bollan a tough day.
McInally said: “Luc has played three games now and played against some experienced strikers.
“He needs to learn fast and for the last 20 minutes he was physical and did what I told him to do. At times he was following Lee Miller about and ended up getting underneath headers sometimes.”
Jason Brown hauled back Declan McManus 25 minutes in, with the referee awarding the Bairns a free-kick.
From the free-kick, Simon Ferry was adjudged to have handled Aidan Connelly’s shot in the wall, with referee Craig Napier giving a penalty.
McManus made no mistake from the spot and from there Peterhead never looked like getting back into it.
McInally added: “We had to change our shape because I knew the way we were set up we weren’t going to get back into it.
“At half-time we tried to sort a few things out and we did OK in the second half.”
The introduction of Alan Cook and a change to a 3-5-2 formation improved things, with Cook drawing a great save from Falkirk keeper Robbie Mutch.
McInally said: “Cooky caused them a few problems. I was desperate to get a wee look at him up front and I think he showed that if he gets into a situation he’ll shoot. He’s never played there before, but it’s always something that has been in my mind because he’s big, quick and strong.”
Despite the second half improvement, Falkirk got the only goal of the half.
Although no one could begrudge McManus his terrific 30-yard free-kick, McInally was disappointed with the referee giving the foul.
He said: “I’m disappointed with the goal because it’s our free-kick. It was a big point in the game because if we’d stayed at 2-0 we did have a couple of chances.”
McInally knows his side’s results away to the teams at the top of the table are unlikely to be the ones that define their season. Instead, their campaign is likely to be determined by their showings against the teams around them in League 1.
Bollan said: “In the second half we got a lot tighter and made it more difficult.
“I am enjoying playing games, getting used to it now and hope to kick on for the rest of the season.
“The boys have already won against (next week’s opponents) Raith Rovers this season so there is no reason why we can’t do that again.”
