Hamish Ritchie accepts Peterhead’s second-half collapse against Dumbarton is not good enough after it nearly cost them three points.
Peterhead were 3-0 up at half-time with Dumbarton down to 10 men, after Ritchie’s brace and another from Russell McLean.
But they dropped off massively in the second, with the Sons bringing it back to 3-2 and 4-3, despite having a second player sent off.
There is some relief for Peterhead, with it being their first league win in eight games, but Ritchie knows they cannot afford any more second-half displays like that.
He said: “It was overshadowed by the performance in the second half. We know ourselves it needs to be better.
“We took our foot off the pedal and let our standards drop. We couldn’t get it back.
“It’s nice to score but as long as we win that’s the main thing. It was tough conditions out there with the wind as well and the first-half performance was very good.
“But the second-half performance, we need to be better.”
Ritchie took his goals well, turning in his first from Niah Payne’s cross and then adding a second from a short-corner routine.
He hopes it marks a change of luck for him, after hitting the post against Scottish Cup opponents Dundee and coming close to netting the winner against Falkirk last week.
Ritchie added: “The last three games I’ve either hit the post or the keeper has made a good save. Hopefully that’s me turned the corner now and I can get a few more goals through the rest of the season.”