Peterhead manager Jim McInally left Links Park frustrated as he did not have enough options to fire the Blue Toon onto victory in their game against Montrose that eventually ended in a 3-2 win for the hosts.
Former Balmoor striker Russell McLean cancelled out the early lead Ben Armour had given Peterhead before half-time with McLean edging his side ahead at the start of the second half. Armour scored again to restore parity however a penalty from Graham Webster won the day for Montrose with Jim saying: “I was forced into making a change early into the second half as Andrew McCarthy had been booked and every time he was involved after that there was pressure put on the referee to give him a second yellow.”
“Ben did brilliantly to get his two goals however he is just coming back from injury so we knew that we would only get an hour or so out of him.”
“We had got back level at 2-2 and to be honest we looked to be the side who would go on and win however I had no changes left to try and force it. Isaac Layne was out injured and whilst Simon Ferry and Steven Boyd were listed as substitutes putting them on would have been a huge risk as they are not fully over their injuries.”
“It was really frustrating as if I had some more firepower available, we could have really gone for it.”
Jim added: “To add to my frustration we came away with nothing as Montrose were given a penalty which they scored to win the game. Kyle Bailiey feels really bad about it and I reckon that he was unfortunate as the ball was running through to Joshua Rae in our goal. Even after they scored, we took the game to them, but we could not come up with a goal.”
“Joshua made a fantastic save in the first half and another decent stop after that but he did not have a lot else to do. I feel that we should have had something from the game and that the end result is harsh.”
Jason Brown was sent off in the closing stages and will serve a one match suspension when league football resumes with Jim saying: “I thought his first booking was really unlucky. He was walking a tight rope after that and the second one was a foul as he stopped an attack on our goal. Jason and Kieran Freeman had played well in the centre of our defence and everyone gave a lot to the game so it is frustrating not to have anything to show for it.”
