Brechin hit-man Ross Caldwell believes his side can make up ground on league leaders Livingston despite a missed opportunity to go top.
A disputed second-half penalty was all that separated the sides on Saturday, and defeat leaves the Glebe Park men two points behind, but Caldwell said: “I think we can catch them over the course of the season.
“It’s a very long way to go. I think that’s us just a third of the way through the season.
“But it’s a missed opportunity to go top and put pressure on them to catch up.”
City could have gone one point clear at the top of League One and Caldwell was disappointed with the manner of the defeat, adding: “We started the stronger team in the first 20 minutes.
“Then they started to come into the game more and we started giving away needless free-kicks. So, by the law of averages, they were always going to score.
“We managed to hang on until half-time and go in level. Then the ref gives what we feel is a very soft penalty, and he doesn’t even it up when we felt we had two good claims for a penalty.”
The visitors did start brightly, with early shots from Caldwell and Lewis Spence stinging the hands of home stopper Rohan Ferguson.
But as the game grew, so did the home side’s confidence as they pushed for an opener with multiple shots from Adam Brown testing City keeper Graeme Smith.
The hosts were gifted a golden opportunity to go in front when referee Craig Napier pointed to the spot after claims for a handball by Douglas Hill.
While the penalty award was hotly contested, there was no debating the finish as Iain Russell slammed the ball into the corner of the net after 54 minutes.
A bad day for Brechin got worse in the 80th minute when skipper Paul McLean was shown a straight red for a lunging challenge on Jack Leitch.
City gaffer Darren Dods insisted his side were unlucky to come away from the match empty-handed.
He said: “We had the opportunity to go top but unfortunately we didn’t take it.
“The penalty decision was a bit unfortunate. You sometimes get these breaks, but we were unlucky today.
“I don’t think I’m saying anything out of turn by saying the referee is inexperienced. I don’t think he’s ever had a game at this level before.
“But if we keep ourselves together and keep working hard we will get the breaks and we will see where we can go from there.”
Airdrie boss Mark Wilson was delighted with the result, but admitted his side were fortunate to get the penalty.
He said: “I couldn’t ask any more of the players today – I thought they were terrific.
“It was a bit of luck that the ref gave the penalty but I felt we were on top of the game at that point. When you’re throwing balls into the box there is always a chance you get a decision.”
