Peterhead suffered their fourth successive defeat in League One as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Alloa Athletic.
A Kevin Cawley goal midway through the second half gave the home side the three points in an evenly fought match.
Peterhead manager Jim McInally said: “After the opening 10 to 15 minutes of the match, we played really well for the remainder of the first half.
“At half-time, I felt if we kept up our level of play, we could get something from the game.
“Alloa changed their shape and we did not adjust to it.
“Our keeper kept us in the game with some great saves, but Alloa’s goal came from a defensive mistake.
“We then missed a sitter right after that when we should have scored, and this is how it has been for us this season.”
The home side dominated the play in the opening minute with Steven Boyd and Connor Sammon both going close.
Boyd sent over an inch-perfect pass to Kevin Cawley in the 12th minute but Cawley’s attempt was cleared.
Your #BlueToon line up for this afternoon's @cinchuk League 1 clash with @AlloaAthleticFC
✅ Jim McInally makes 3 changes from last Saturday's game with Montrose as Cairns, Jason Brown and Duncan all start
❌ Payne and Duffy drop to the bench with McCarthy suspended pic.twitter.com/MQy5X4ruE9— Peterhead FC (@pfcofficial) March 19, 2022
Midway through the first half, Peterhead worked their way back into the match, and went close to scoring when Grant Savoury fired in a well-struck shot from the edge of the box but PJ Morrison in the Alloa goal was equal to it.
The on-loan Motherwell stopper made a superb save to keep out Russell McLean’s fierce left-footed drive before Ryan Duncan hit the post as the visitors upped the ante.
Peterhead fell behind against the run of play in the 69th minute when Cawley’s shot found the bottom corner.
The Blue Toon ended the game with 10 players after Andy McDonald saw red in injury time for a challenge on Ross MacIver.
Peterhead goalkeeper Brett Long said: “We played better in the first half, but we allowed Alloa to get at us in the second half.
“We gave Alloa a lot of the ball and they got their goal.
“It was not our day but the manager reminded us that we need to get back to it.
“We know we are in a bit of a dogfight but we need to keep working hard.”
