Caledonian Braves boss Ricky Waddell says yesterday's 2-2 Lowland League draw with Rangers 'B' felt like a defeat after a last-gasp penalty denied them a precious win.
Waddell felt that Braves were the better side and they led twice in the second half through Luke Main and a goal of the season contender from Rhys Armstrong, only to be pegged back both times by Alex Lowry, the second of which was an 89th-minute spot-kick.
The former Ibrox coach says he was unhappy with decisions in general against his former club, and that Braves deserved more than a point from the clash at Alliance Park, which was played in front of a club record crowd of 500.
He said: "I thought the boys were excellent, really worked hard, and played some really good stuff, especially in the second half.
"In the first half we defended well and on the ball we were a wee bit wasteful, but in the second half we settled down into the game, got ourselves ahead twice, and it's a bit painful to - I nearly said 'lose the game' but it felt like a loss, in terms of how the penalty came about.
"I suppose I was a bit disappointed with the officials over the course of the game, to be honest."
Armstrong put Braves 2-1 in front with a curling strike from the edge of the box that flew into the top corner, and Waddell says he was delighted with his performance.
He said: "Rhys did great, not just with the finish but his positioning, and his general play was excellent.
"But for his goal he got in between the line, behind their midfielders and got eventually behind the defender, jinked one way, jinked the other, and then put it in the top corner with his left foot.
"It was a well deserved goal from Rhys because I felt he grew into the game and did really well."
Braves travel to Dumfries and Galloway on Saturday to face Abbey Vale in the Southern Counties Cup, and Waddell says they know what needs to be done, but says they won't necessarily take a boost from their performance against Rangers.
He said: "We're confident in terms of the boys when we play. I think we've been doing well in general.
"We've had some good results, we've had some not so good results, but we know what we're wanting to do for the rest of the season and we've got that objective in our heads.
"We've got to take the ups and downs that go with football, but keep focusing on that end thing.
"We're still in a couple of cups, there are things to play for, and we want to get as many points as we can and build from this season and go again next season."
Waddell says he's unlikely to dip into the transfer market until the summer, as he puts faith in his current squad.
"I'm happy," he said. "I said to them that I want to be loyal to the guys that I brought in during the summer.
"There have been players who have come up, but I'm not really too fussy about adding anybody at the moment - I don't think there's too much point in that.
"We do want to build for next season, but I think that's probably more likely to come in the summer."
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