Peterhead remain bottom of the League One following a 2-0 defeat by leaders Dunfermline Athletic.
Matthew Todd and Chris Mochrie netted in the first half for the Pars in the Blue Toon’s first match since the departure of Peterhead boss Jim McInally.
Former Aberdeen, Rangers and Leeds United defender David Robertson, who recently left Real Kashmir after five years in charge of the Indian side, was at Balmoor to watch the Blue Toon in action.
Robertson, whose son Mason played for Peterhead, has previously had spells in charge of Elgin City, Montrose and Phoenix FC and has been tipped as a potential successor to McInally.
Peterhead started with a strong wind at their backs and were first to threaten when a Jack Wilkie header from a corner went close.
Dunfermline took the lead when a Todd drive from 30 yards took a wicked deflection and looped over the unfortunate Tom Ritchie in the Blue Toon goal.
Mochrie extended Dunfermline’s advantage with a well-struck shot after good work from Sam Fisher.
Peterhead interim boss Davie Nicholls sad: “Conditions were tough but it was the same for both teams.
“The goals we lost were pretty poor and we didn’t get a foothold in the game, particularly as we had the wind in our favour in the first half but we didn’t utilise it.
“The first goal sums up our luck at the moment but I was really disappointed with the time he had to control it before he struck the ball.
“Dunfermline were sharp and our guys kind of switched off and the second, again it was a good move from them, but the guy should never have got out of the corner.
“He brushed a couple of our players aside too easily, and I had a go at them at half-time for that.
“I thought the second half was a bit more even.
“We got a wee foothold midway through when we decided to start clipping it in behind them and I thought we posed them a couple of problems without really peppering the goal.
“It’s been a hard week with Jim leaving on Monday but the guys fought to the end and that’s all I can ask for.”
Nicholls added: “We’ve a hard game next week against Queen’s Park (in the Scottish Cup) but we’ll come back in on Tuesday and get back at it.
“I believe the club are interviewing for the manager’s position next week so we’ll see how that goes.”
Your #BlueToon line up for this afternoon's @cinchuk League 1 clash with @officialdafc pic.twitter.com/Rwu7DkWxVv
— Peterhead FC (@pfcofficial) November 19, 2022
The stand-in was delighted at the 11th minute round of applause from the home fans to recognise the longevity of Jim McInally’s reign in charge from 2011 to 2022.
He added: “It was really good. I think the commitment that Jim has shown over the years to the club has been exceptional, unheard of actually.
“He was a part time manager doing a full-time job almost and his love for the club is fantastic but Jim’s decision is to move on at this point in time and I stayed on for some kind of continuity.”
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