Tricky conditions at Gayfield - a lively pitch which made the ball difficult to control and some wind plus a truly awful ref (why was Gibson sent off, why was McManus not penalised for kicking the ball out of hill's hands?). Not excuses since Brechin outplayed us from the start under the same conditions
We just never got going. First half we saw little of the ball and spent very little time in the Brechin half. At the back our defence looked uncomfortable at every turn - even Malcolm and Baxter who have been reasonably solid. We couldn;t get hold of the ball in the middle of the park despite the usual huge effort from Josh F who was everywhere. Doris was played in a withdrawn role and had his poorest game for ages. Samuel had a few touches but never broke free and Swankie, a few glimpses of class excepted, never found any space.
That;s two defeats in a row, four games since our last win plus the fact we seem to be struggling to score goals. We were awarded two penalties by the ref - taken perfectly by Doris - both were clearcut but we didn;t create much else except a Swankie chance that slipped just past - that would have changed the game. They ran up and scored the third
We'd done well to get back into the game but that crucial minute was a killer. Just as we started to exert pressure and believe we could turn the result around, they ran up and scored.
How to regain the energy and verve that characterized our play earlier in the season? There's still plenty to play for and this is as good a squad as we've seen at Gayfield for years. we should have enough experience to get through these temporary setbacks and press on.
Let's focus on ending the season with a bang and see where that leads. All is not lost