Newmains United co-boss Craig Gupwell hailed the debuts of Albion Rovers loanees Reiss Kasule and Steven Meek in their defeat to Cambuslang Rangers.
Depleted United were beaten 4-0 by the West of Scotland Conference B leaders at Somervell Park and played most of the game with 10 men, following Dominic Cherrie's seventh minute red card.
But Gupwell - who brought the pair in urgently following last week's 11-0 thrashing by Thorniewood - felt their displays offered positives from a difficult afternoon that keeps them 13th in the 15-team division.
He said: "We had a gameplan for today but seven minutes in it went out the window.
"We've managed to bring a couple of boys in from Albion Rovers on loan, both went into the back four straight away and I thought they did really well.
"Reiss played left-back and Steven played centre-half. They are two young boys but you can tell they've played a decent level with Albion Rovers reserves.
"I thought they both put in standout performances.
"They came in and looked really comfortable playing against some really experienced players in Cambuslang's frontline.
"Coming here after last week's result, it was about pride today.
"At the end of the day we were beaten 4-0 but, being down to 10 men for 83 minutes, I'm still quite happy with a lot of the individual performances today.
"I thought they executed the gameplan as well as they could and I was really pleased with Reece and Steven."
John Gemmell was at the double for Cambuslang, while a Scott Anson header and a Jay Nelson volley made sure of the points.
Cherrie saw red for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity when he hacked down Scott Williamson and it ensured it would be another long afternoon for Gupwell's side.
But trailing just 1-0 at the break was looked upon as another positive give the torrid time at Thorniewood.
Gupwell added: "We were maybe fortunate to be just 1-0 down at half-time.
"But last week it was 6-0 at half-time. The game was done and we didn't even want to go back out on the park, but today we gave ourselves something to play for.
"I can't fault their workrate.
"It would have been really hard going down to 10 men with 20 minutes to go, so given what they managed after being a man down for 83 minutes, they boys have done well.
"It's not a great result on paper but I'm proud of our performance against a team that, let's be honest, are levels above us.
"So there's positives we can take into the next game.."
Newmains host Lowland League East Kilbride in the South Challenge Cup next week.
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and
