A hard-fought 90 minutes in freezing conditions at Ainslie Park saw Edinburgh City and Elgin City emerge with a point apiece.
Elgin started well against a new-look Edinburgh side whose manager Gary Naysmith had made six changes to the team which had defeated Cowdenbeath in the run up to Christmas.
Kane Hester twice went close to opening the scoring in the early stages before Gavin Price’s men stormed into the lead in the 14th minute when captain Matthew Cooper drilled the ball home from close range after the home defence failed to deal with Russell Dingwall’s corner.
Edinburgh almost levelled four minutes later when towering frontman Ouzy See’s low shot rebounded off both Angus Mailer and Elgin goalkeeper Daniel Hoban before being being cleared to safety.
The equaliser arrived nine minutes from the interval when Danny Handling’s low cross was met by City captain Callum Tapping who fired past Hoban from ten yards out.
See then found himself clean through on goal as half time approached, latching on to an excellent through ball from Alex Ferguson only to see his shot saved superbly by Hoban.
Tonight’s Starting X1 to take on Edinburgh City.
C’mon the city 🖤 pic.twitter.com/hzhpDiSDPc
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) January 7, 2022
Edinburgh keeper Brian Schwake saved well from Hester in the early stages of the second half but the visitors’ talismanic striker restored his team’s lead just before the hour when uncertainty in the home defence allowed him to collect a pass from Dingwall before advancing unchallenged on goal and beating the helpless Schwake with a clinical finish.
Victory for Elgin looked certain at this stage but a late strike from Edinburgh’s trialist defender Michael Travis gave the Citizens what could prove to be a valuable point in their quest for a play-off place.
Elgin assistant manager Steven Mackay said: “I feel it’s fair to say we should have taken more than a point from the game, especially as we were twice in front.
“Unlike earlier in the season we are now creating chances and scoring goals and it was a bit frustrating that we failed to see the game out after regaining our lead in the second half.
“Having said that, to come here and take a point is not a bad outcome and it keeps our unbeaten run going.”