City boss Ray McKinnon was delighted with the performance of his team against Championship side Cowdenbeath, but made it plain he is not getting carried away with what was one of the shock Petrofac Training Cup first-round results.
Brechin did well to respond to going behind in only 13 minutes at Central Park on Saturday to a fine finish from new Cowden striker Sean Higgins.
It took two excellent saves from City keeper Graeme Smith to keep them in touch with the home side, but the manager saw his side respond to these boosts by levelling the tie with 22 minutes left and then going on to win it in extra-time.
Robert Thomson came on as a substitute after 67 minutes and a minute later levelled after new home keeper Robbie Thomson failed to block the striker’s low shot, then the last line spilled a Ross Brash shot at the feet of Alan Trouten, who put Brechin ahead three minutes into extra-time.
A fine piece of work by sub Ryan Ferguson, with 12 minutes remaining, saw the Glebe Park men sew up their place in round two.
“We lost the goal early in the game but managed to consolidate and our hard work was rewarded later in the tie,” said McKinnon.
“I was very pleased with the way we defended, and Paul McLean and Darren McCormack played very well and showed plenty of pace in their work.”
The City manager was also pleased with the contribution of substitute Robert Thomson.
“Robert did very well for us when he entered the game by holding the ball up well, bringing the midfielders into the game and also making a good job of scoring the equaliser.
“But while it was a fine result, none of us are getting carried away.
“It was our first competitive game but it is a result we can build on when another Championship side, Dumbarton, come to Glebe Park this Saturday in the League Cup.”
While McKinnon was pleased with his men, Cowden boss Jimmy Nicholl, was very unhappy with his side.
“We made a decent start to the tie and took the lead with a fine finish from Sean Higgins but really, the longer the game went, the worse we got,” he said.
“Yes their keeper had a couple of good saves, and Higgins missed a gilt-edged chance to restore our lead late in the game, but really we made far too many unforced errors.
“We were guilty of needlessly giving the ball away 40 yards out for the equaliser, and the second goal came from a mistake, which is simply not good enough.
“At time up I made it plain to the players that this sort of performance will not do and I will be looking for a massive improvement when we go to Clyde in the League Cup this weekend.”
The Cowden boss was full of praise for Brechin, but had a message for his team.
“City responded in the perfect way to going behind, played well and thoroughly deserved to win the game.
“Very few of our players came up to the mark today, including our new striker Craig Sutherland, who can do a lot better but then so can the whole side.”
Nicholl indicated that he hopes to add two players to his squad before the League Cup match with Clyde.