Allan Hale could not hide his frustrations after Elgin City suffered a late defeat at fellow strugglers Forfar.
Elgin took the lead through a Ross Draper goal nine minutes before half time but Forfar levelled after 72 minutes through Russell McLean who then netted an injury time penalty.
“To say I’m bitterly disappointed would be an understatement,” said Hale.
“We’re very much the victims of our own downfall today.
“The goals and the manner of how they are being conceded are inexcusable.
“I’m really disappointed that after going 1-0 up and doing well enough to get ourselves in front, we never had any period of possession with in the game.
“That is really disappointing because we have built up a lot of momentum over the last three games but that level of performance is not a performance I will be accepting, that is for sure.”
Hale believes nervousness might have been to blame for his side’s failure to see out the win.
“I think naturally that plays a part,” the former Huntly boss conceded.
“We never mentioned the magnitude of the game in the build up to it.
“We just try to focus on getting a level of performance out the group but I think that probably played a part.
“Feeling like we are under pressure is a mentality thing that has been embedded with in the group since we came here.
“We are working to change that and it still needs to change.
“We have certainly not been getting ahead of ourselves because we won a couple of games.
“We are well aware that there is still a lot of work to do.
“We need to address the fact that we need people on the pitch who want to get their foot on the ball and take it under pressure and play football.
“Today we never got that and it was a very subdued performance and one which, I’ll be honest, I didn’t see coming.”
Ross Draper 36th min strike gave us a 1-0 lead yesterday, but unfortunately was not enough as Forfar completed the comeback with a late penalty.
Ross on his 75th appearance for the club yesterday, scored his second goal for the club – which won’t be remembered like his first! pic.twitter.com/24lR7bPg3y
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) January 14, 2024
The first half was a nervy affair but it was City who edged themselves in front nine minutes before the break.
A corner was only partially cleared by the Forfar defence and Ross Draper made no mistake on the half volley, rifling in to the bottom corner.
Rather than press home their advantage, Elgin looked to sit on their lead and the Loons came out strong, missing a barrage of chances and striking the crossbar before the equaliser eventually came in the 72nd minute.
Debutants Tyler Mykyta and Russell McLean linked up to provide the latter with a tap in.
The Black and Whites hopes of holding out for a point came undone in the first minute of injury time.
⚫️⚪️ TEAM NEWS ⚫️⚪️
One change from last weekends match v Stranraer⚽️
➡️ Dangana comes into the Starting XI
⬅️ Jamieson drops to the bench
🎂 Happy Birthday to Kenny McInnes who is 20 today pic.twitter.com/j5MmIIy969
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) January 13, 2024
Brian Cameron went to ground dangerously in the box and was dismissed for his challenge.
The red card was the least of City’s worries though as McLean fired the spot kick in to the top corner to ensure Elgin returned north empty handed.
Hale is still hopeful of bolstering his squad after Forfar leapfrogged his side in the table to move up to eighth spot.
Hale added: “We are still active and there are certain positions we need support in. Hopefully we can get some business done.”