Peterhead midfielder Gary Fraser offered no excuses for the Blue Toon’s League 1 collapse against Dumbarton but claimed they need to toughen up.
Fraser was on target as the Blue Toon raced into a two-goal lead in a game where they they were in complete control.
Yet the Sons, who had lost their opening two matches, halved the deficit just before half-time and went on to score twice in the second period to stun the Buchan men.
Fraser said: “It was horrible. The game should have been dead and buried, especially with the older, experienced players that we have in the team.
“There are no easy games in this league but you cannot be as soft as that.
“When we were two goals up, you could not see Dumbarton coming back like they did but you need to play for the full 90 minutes and not just 45.”
It started so promisingly for Fraser and Peterhead.
The former Partick player collected an Aidan Smith cross and shifted the ball on to his left foot to drill a 10-yard shot beyond Conor Brennan.
Fraser then thundered a long-range free-kick on target in the 36th minute and Brennan did well to tip the ball over.
From the resulting corner, the goalscorer turned provider as Jason Brown’s downward header bounced off the turf and into the net.
The home team, who lost Derek Lyle to a hamstring injury before Simon Ferry hobbled off, were coasting but they gave their opponents hope two minutes before half-time with PJ Crossan’s centre neatly tucked away by Ruaridh Langan.
The Blue Toon never got going in the second period but it was two set-pieces which ultimately cost them.
Joe McKee’s 69th-minute corner found its way to the far post for the impressive Crossan, who cut inside and bent a fine effort past Greg Fleming.
With 11 minutes remaining, the Dumbarton comeback was complete as McKee’s deep free-kick found Isaac Layne, who rose unchallenged to plant an eight-yard header into the bottom corner.
Blue Toon boss Jim McInally said: “We were so fragile.
“As soon as the goal went in before half-time you could smell the possibility that this could happen.
“I thought there were times towards the end of last season when we looked really fragile and as soon as Ferry went off, we lost a lot of control.
“But the other players need to stand up and be counted, it cannot be Simon all the time.
“The second goal came from a corner, which we should not have given away because two players got in each other’s road, and then we showed Crossan on to his good foot to score.
“That was crazy because the boy played well the whole game and then for the winner, their player showed a bit of power to win the header but the free-kick could have been avoided in the first place.
“It was not good enough and the lessons are there to be learned,” he added.
