David Robertson was left frustrated at his side’s lack of cutting edge as they fell to defeat in a hard-fought relegation crunch clash against Clyde at New Douglas Park.
The Blue Toon passed up a host of chances before Cameron Salkeld headed home the only goal of the game with eight minutes remaining.
A third successive loss leaves Peterhead three points adrift at the foot of the League One table, though on another day they could have quite easily have been looking back on a comprehensive victory.
Josh Oyinsan struck the woodwork twice in the first half and Daniel Fosu should have netted after evading the offside trap before lifting the ball over the keeper, but his weak effort was easily mopped up by Jon Craig in the Clyde defence.
After the break, Oyinsan passed up a glorious opportunity when he somehow managed to fire into the side-netting after Neil Parry had kept out Kieran Shanks’ angled drive.
It looked like both teams would have to settle for a share of the spoils, but the hosts struck late to clinch a vital win – their first in the league since August.
Blue Toon boss Robertson said: “We had a lot of chances in the first half, it’s so frustrating, not for me, Jimmy (Lindsay) or Ian (Esslemont), it’s the players – they know they deserved something from the game.
“It wasn’t just half-chances, it was right good chances – obviously we didn’t take them and eventually lose a goal.
“The next thing is taking those opportunities, obviously it’s all about the result and unfortunately we couldn’t get anything – at the very, very worst we deserved a point, but I’ve been in football long enough to know you never get what you deserve.
“I feel so bad for the players, they didn’t deserve to lose. When we first came in, we weren’t creating any chances, now we are creating clear-cut chances.
“The first half was the best we’ve played, there were a lot of good things and you could tell the players had a belief about them.”
With 11 games remaining, there is a two-team battle between Peterhead and Clyde to avoid bottom spot and automatic relegation.
Next up for the Balmoor side is a home clash with Kelty Hearts who thumped Queen of the South 3-0 on Saturday to move 21 points clear of bottom spot.
Robertson insists his team can haul themselves out of their current situation, and feels that despite suffering late disappointment against their relegation rivals, there is plenty of room for optimism.
He added: “There were a lot of dejected players in the dressing room after the game, but I’ve said to the boys, if we play like we did against Clyde then we’ll beat teams.
“We’ve got Kelty at home next week and they won’t fancy coming to our place.
“We need to put the same type of performance in and the results will turn – I’m pretty confident in that.
“It’s been hard this season – you’ve got to remember we brought in 10 to 12 players and game-by- game they are getting better, stronger and used to playing with each other.”
Your #BlueToon line up for today's @cinchuk League 1 clash with @ClydeFC! pic.twitter.com/L1ItIfrZaG
— Peterhead FC (@pfcofficial) February 18, 2023
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