Inverurie Locos boss Dean Donaldson questioned the mentality of his side despite fighting back from two down to draw 2-2 with Buckie Thistle at Victoria Park.
Marcus Goodall and Sam Pugh struck early on for the Breedon Highland League champions, but Calum Dingwall and Callum Duncan responded for the Railwaymen.
Inverurie are fourth in the table with this point moving them above Banks o’ Dee, who have two games in hand.
Donaldson said: “I’m angry with the first half and how we started. The mentality isn’t right, boys moaning about being in certain positions and moaning about it being tough.
“Although I’m delighted with the character we’ve shown to come back, we can’t be giving any team a two-goal start.
“The character is pleasing, but if it isn’t for the likes of Paul Coutts, Mark Souter, Calum Dingwall and Zack Ellis we probably lose by a few goals.
“Boys are showing up and they’re just happy to be playing and that mentality is never going to be good enough.
“We need to start games properly, we can’t just float about and think we’re football players, you need to win your battles first.”
Big decisions frustrate MacKinnon
Buckie’s winless run now stands at four games and manager Lewis MacKinnon was disappointed they gave up their lead.
He also felt Inverurie could have been reduced to 10 men in the second half with the score at 2-2 when Paul Coutts tripped Jack MacIver at the edge of box.
Coutts was booked with referee Robert Mackinnon ruling it wasn’t a clear goalscoring opportunity because Milosz Ochmanski was covering.
Buckie’s MacKinnon added: “Surrendering a two-goal lead is disappointing, particularly given the chances we missed in the second half.
“There were a couple of key moments that didn’t go for us. There was a clear goalscoring opportunity denied which everyone in the ground saw accept the man that counts.
“I also thought Andrew MacAskill was wiped out in the box after winning a header, but we got a corner rather than a penalty.
“We don’t seem to be getting those decisions this season. I didn’t like the goals we lost, but we had enough chances to win it.”
Match action
After a minute Buckie goalkeeper Mark Ridgers denied Cole Anderson from six yards.
Then in the seventh minute the Jags took the lead as Goodall headed home MacIver’s cross from the right.
Five minutes later Pugh’s superb shot from 20 yards nestled in the top left corner to make it 2-0 to the hosts.
However, in the 14th minute Inverurie pulled a goal back. Dingwall found the bottom right corner from the edge of the box after Thomas Reid’s cross from the right wasn’t cleared.
In the 52nd minute a tremendous 20-yard strike into the bottom left corner from Locos midfielder Duncan restored parity.
Both sides had chances to win this absorbing encounter. Inverurie’s Ryan Park headed straight at Ridgers from eight yards, while in the closing stages Buckie’s Liam Harvey and Darryl McHardy failed to hit the target from similar range as it finished level.
Elsewhere, frost meant Huntly v Fraserburgh was postponed.
Brora Rangers 1-2 Clachnacuddin
Brora Rangers’ pursuit of Breedon Highland League leaders Brechin City suffered a blow when Clachnacuddin stormed back from a goal down to win 2-1 and surge into third spot.
Steven Mackay’s second-placed team remain seven points behind City but have just one fixture in hand.
The Lilywhites are only three points behind their beaten hosts, albeit having played two more games.
Craig MacKenzie fired Brora in front early on, but Clach rallied. Troy Cooper’s superb equaliser in the second half was what Clach’s efforts merited before James Anderson headed them to maximum points.
This fixture came just under two months after the Cattachs crushed Clach 6-1 in the North of Scotland Cup final.
However, a much closer contest was always expected here – and so it proved for a team on the rise.
Brora made two changes from the side which won through to the quarter-finals of the R Davidson (Banchory) Highland League Cup on penalties against Formartine United at the weekend.
In came Tom Kelly and George Robeston for Max Ewan and James Wallace.
Visiting manager Conor Gethins, whose team beat Lossiemouth 5-1 to halt a mini-dip on Saturday, handed a start to 20-year-old Ross County goalkeeper Logan Ross, who came in on an emergency loan.
Ali Gillies, Rorie MacLeod and Troy Cooper were also promoted to the starting 11.
Match action
It took just seven minutes for the Sutherland side to open the scoring as MacKenzie rifled home a first-time strike when he connected with a teasing, back-post Kelly cross.
Clach responded well and ex-Brora ace Andrew Macrae and Rorie MacLeod flashed terrific efforts just too high within that spell.
Brora upped their attacking work as the first half advanced and Shane Sutherland was not far off with a close-range drive, which Ross seemed to have covered as the ball spun just wide.
The Merkinchers began on the front foot in the second half, and it took a decent stop from home goalkeeper Danny Gillan to prevent Macrae making a scoring return.
At the other end, former Caley Thistle and Elgin City forward Sutherland showed his class with a swift turn and shot from inside the box, but it swerved beyond the left post.
However, it was level on the hour mark when Cooper stepped in from the left flank and guided a curling effort beyond the reach of Gillan into the net.
More drama followed on 71 minutes when striker Anderson headed home the winner at the back post from a smart Craig Lawrie delivery.
This Saturday, Brora host Forres Mechanics, while it’s a derby for Clach at Nairn County.
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