SAUCHIE boss Fraser Duncan says schoolboy errors gave his side a mountain to climb in an eight-goal thriller against Camelon Juniors on Saturday.
The Wee County side went behind twice and clawed their way back into the game before taking the lead twice themselves.
The game finished 4-4, with Ant McTaggart seeing red, but Duncan credited his players for their endeavour to turn it around.
He told Advertiser Sport: "Obviously, we wanted to push to go and win the game, it was our intention to win the game.
"We were very poor in the first half, I was quite disappointed with the boys in the first 45 minutes.
"What I was impressed with was how we turned it around at half-time, we had a chat and I told them we were making schoolboy errors. Second half we were the better side in my opinion."
Duncan was keen to praise his goalkeeper Chic Bell, who kept his side in the game and gave them a fighting chance.
He continued: "They probably had two or three chances to put the game beyond our reach in the first half but Chic Bell has kept us in it.
"He was outstanding for 90 minutes and he kept us in the game. He probably earned us the point with his saves in the first half to give us a chance in the second."
A penalty for Camelon got the visitors back in the game and Duncan believes it was harsh on his side.
Duncan said: "We spin the game around in our favour and then we've let them in to get a really soft goal.
"We've worked so hard to get back in the game and make it 4-3 and then I think the referee's made an absolute blunder, giving a penalty that never was. I think he was pressurised.
"Chic saves the penalty, [but] the bit that annoys me is our guys don't follow it in, so that's really annoying.
"Chic's saved the penalty brilliantly and then once he's saved it three of their players are in the box waiting to follow it up.
"These are wee bits that we've got to fix and get better at. You can't lose four goals at home and expect to win the game."
Despite drawing after taking the lead twice, Duncan is still taking positives from it, especially after such a poor run of form just weeks ago.
"Overall the boys worked really hard and if you look at it on the scale of things, it was probably a fair result," Duncan said.
"If we went into that game four weeks ago we'd have lost the game, so it's credit to the players and the way we've been turning things around.
"We've now got a wee bit of resilience about us and people aren't going to come to Beechwood and pick up three points easily, we're going to make it very hard for them."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here