Scott Hooper was in no doubt the better team lost in this Scottish Cup third-round tie at Stark’s Park.
Peterhead dominated Raith Rovers from start to finish but were caught cold by Kieran Bowie’s early opener.
After that, the full-time Fife outfit couldn’t create another clear chance, while the Blue Toon did everything but score.
Centre-back Hooper said: “We were the better team by far. I won’t blame the referee because I’m not that kind of guy but we should have had two stonewall penalties in the first half.
“Early on we hit the post and then they go up the park and score. They didn’t have another clear-cut chance after that. We were far better than them.
“They train every day and we train together once a week. It shows the quality we have because we passed them off the park and even their players said that.
“We should be in the hat but they took their chance and we didn’t and it’s goals that win games. The boys know it was a good performance and we need to take that into the league every week.”
While exiting the Scottish Cup in such fashion is painful, Hooper believes Peterhead can have a productive season if they play to a similar standard regularly in League One.
The 24-year-old added: “If we play like that every week we’ll win a lot of games and push for the play-offs.
“We came down here and got battered a couple of months ago (4-0 loss) and people said we wouldn’t be anywhere near the play-offs. But we’re only seven points off fourth place and if we play like that we’ve got a great chance.”
After 90 seconds Ryan Conroy’s free-kick smacked the right post from 25 yards and bounced to safety.
Rovers then went up the pitch and scored with John Baird crossing from the left for Bowie to plant a header beyond Greg Fleming.
In the ninth minute referee Steven Reid turned down two strong Blue Toon penalty claims.
First on-loan Ross County keeper Ross Munro felled Ben Armour and, seconds later, the striker flicked Aidan Smith’s cross goalwards and it was destined for the net until it hit the arm of the sliding Kyle Benedictus. However, on both occasions, referee Reid was unmoved.
Rory McAllister, Paddy Boyle and Conroy all worked Munro before half-time, while Armour shot wide and Jason Brown’s header was scrambled off the line.
There were fewer clear-cut chances after the break, but in the closing stages Boyle, Gary Fraser and Conroy all had efforts on target, McAllister sent a free-kick just over and Raith scraped through after surviving two stoppage-time corners which saw keeper Fleming come up into the box but to no avail.