Cove Rangers manager Paul Hartley was frustrated following his side’s 1-0 loss at Alloa Athletic.
Conor Sammon netted the only goal of the game after 33 minutes.
The defeat leaves Cove in eighth position in League One with four points from their opening five matches.
Hartley said: “We worked hard throughout the match and had a couple of chances.
“In the first half we were at times the better side but we could not get the breakthrough that we needed.
“Today seemed like a carbon copy of last week, with a lot of possession, but there was no real urgency to win the game.
“If you get chances, you need to take them and we did not do that, although Mitch Megginson went close on a couple of occasions, we just did not do enough.
“This match was an opportunity lost for us.
“We had a lot of possession but could not get the goal we deserved.
“It has been tough going from the beginning of the season but we need to carry on and fight for the results.”
Alloa started brightly a header from Kurtis Roberts and a shot from Stefan Scougall well saved by Nicholas Suman.
Cove went close when former Alloa forward Megginson was denied by PJ Morrison.
The home side continued to press with Conor Sammon going close with a right-footed shot before Kevin Cawley drew a fine save from Suman.
Alloa made the breakthrough after 33 minutes when a Scott Taggert corner found Sammon and he sent an unstoppable shot into the back of the net.
Former Dundee midfielder Paul McGowan went close to restoring parity with a shot from the edge of the penalty area.
From the clearance, Scougall collected the ball in midfield and ran in on the Cove goal but his eventual effort was saved by Suman.
🔵 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 🔵
Here is how we line-up for this afternoon’s @cinchuk League 1 match versus @AlloaAthleticFC!#CRFCLive pic.twitter.com/HxVg9I8Z1l
— Cove Rangers FC (@CoveRangersFC) September 2, 2023
Cove continued to push forward in pursuit of an equaliser with Megginson drilling a fierce effort wide.
Scott Williamson then went close with a well-struck shot before heading just wide two minutes later.
Mitch Megginson, Kyle Connell and Rumarn Burrell all went close in the dying embers as Alloa held on for all three points.
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