Dejected Arthurlie boss Duncan Sinclair insists it was two points dropped for his side at the weekend after they were held to a 1-1 draw against Petershill at Dunterlie Park.
With four key personnel missing from the Lie starting XI, Sinclair’s side battled back from a goal down for a share of the spoils with a second-half penalty miss adding to their woes.
Arthurlie settled well early on with a trialist linking up with Jamie Docherty to force the visiting keeper into a fine stop.
But it was the Peasy who opened the scoring moments after that with David Aubrey’s effort going in off the woodwork.
Lie dug in to level proceedings 10 minutes before the break with summer arrival Tam McGaughey making no mistake with a composed finish after a driving run.
READ MORE: Duncan Sinclair praises his 'battling Arthurlie side after Lang win
And, despite not being at their best, Sinclair’s side had a further two clear cut chances before the interval but McGaughey couldn’t add his second and Docherty’s effort was comfortably collected by the keeper as the sides went in level.
With a heavy pitch rendering Lie’s usual style ineffective in the second-half, the home side resulted to lumping balls up the field in the hope that something would stick.
And that tactic looked to have paid off when McHaughey was upended in the area with 20 minutes remaining only for the Peasy keeper to palm away Dan McKay’s weak effort from the subsequent spot-kick as it finished all square.
“That was definitely two points dropped,” the Lie gaffer told Barrhead Sport. “Peasy have come here and played with a 4-5-1 formation to sit back, frustrate us and catch us on the break.
“Don’t get me wrong we didn’t have enough quality to break them down but they came here to sit in.
“Going 1-0 down was a bit of a shock but fair play to them, they created a chance and took it.
“We forced their keeper into a good few saves in the first-half and could have been a few up but we just couldn’t break them down after the break at all. We fell into the old trap of punting the ball up to the forwards. That’s not how we want to play and the complete opposite of what we told them at half-time.
“It’s disappointing to see our wee run of three wins on the bounce come to an end too. We were hopeful of making that four and maintaining the form but you can’t win games playing like that.
“With games in hand to those above, you could look at it as a point gained, but we’re more looking at it as two points dropped - we should have won that game and won it well.”
READ MORE: Lie assistant expecting tough task against Cambuslang
Next up, Arthurlie travel to Dalmellington this weekend to take on West Championship strugglers Craigmark Burntonians with Sinclair demanding more from his side.
He added: “We need to get back to our usual style of play which is getting it down and playing good football but, more importantly, we want the three points.
“Craigmark will be a difficult one as they all are at this level so it should be good. It’s an opportunity for us but we know we need to work hard to get back on track.”
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