Montrose boss Paul Hegarty was left frustrated after his side went down 2-0 to Stirling Albion at Forthbank.
The visitors, beaten twice at Forthbank last season, looked good for a draw until the ball fell kindly for Darren Smith to break the deadlock just before the hour-mark and a stunning strike from Marc McKenzie sealed it for the Binos in stoppage time.
Hegarty, whose side face Annan Athletic at Links Park on Saturday, said: “I thought that for most of the game there was nothing between the teams but they got a massive break for the goal and that changed things.
“We got caught on the break for the second goal when we were trying to get back in the game, although it was a great strike from Marc McKenzie.
“We had some chances but we didn’t take them. The same happened against Clyde and Arbroath – you get punished if you miss them. We’ve got injuries as well, with my own son, and Chris Templeman and Andrew Steeves all out, and that doesn’t help us.”
The first half was a poor spectacle. Montrose were slightly the better team and Graham Webster headed narrowly over but the best chance fell to Albion’s Blair Henderson in 38 minutes but his shot was saved by Jordan Millar.
The home side went ahead when Sean Dickson’s shot hit a defender and dropped perfectly for Smith. The ex-Motherwell man, who netted two hat-tricks against Montrose in 2015-16, made no mistake.
Stirling missed a couple of chances to increase their lead before McKenzie surged forward from the middle of the park and lashed a 25-yarder into the top corner.
Binos boss Stuart McLaren said: “We deserved the win in the end.”
