Paul Hartley was left to bemoan a late defensive error as Cove Rangers were denied victory by Arbroath.
Cove looked to be heading for all three points through Leighton McIntosh’s goal but for Toyosi Olusanya to capitalise on the home side failing to clear a set-piece.
Conceding late goals has been a theme of Cove’s season and it proved their Achilles heel again at the Balmoral Stadium, in the clash between two of the Championship‘s bottom three.
“It’s a sucker-punch,” said Hartley. “It’s people not doing their jobs properly – too many free headers. I can’t go on the park and force them where to stand.
“We knew they’d load the box with set-plays but we felt we had enough height in the team to deal with that.
“It’s one lapse of concentration that’s really cost us. We wanted to see the game out but this has happened too many teams.
“We don’t feel comfortable at 1-0 because we knew we’d get bombarded at times.”
It was a fraught and frenetic contest at times between two sides desperate to pick up the points.
In the end a draw does not help either, particularly Arbroath who are now perilously close to the bottom.
Hamilton Accies won comfortably at Inverness and closed the gap on both the sides above them, allowing neither of them to breath easily.
“That’s what happens in the Championship,” he added. “You have to win your home games.
“You can only affect what you do, you can’t look at anyone else.
“Every game is going to be tough. We go to Morton next week which is another tough venue. We’ve got to roll our sleeves up and fight our way out of it.”
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