Forfar Athletic slipped up and fell back in the League 1 promotion race against Morton on Saturday.
The Loons lost a hugely entertaining game 2-1, allowing Morton to leapfrog them into second spot in League 1 and once again squeeze the automatic and promotion play-off spots even tighter.
The defeat was disappointing for Forfar boss Dick Campbell, but he refused to be too downcast.
“If we had been 4-1 up at half time, you couldn’t complain,” Campbell reflected.
“Three or four times we had just the keeper to beat but we didn’t do it.
“Then we lost a goal which was a wee but silly from our point of view. My players are saying it was offside, but it doesn’t matter.
“We then went about it right in the second half. We had a lot of possession and a lot of the ball into the box.
“But credit to Morton and Peter McDonald. He has made a living out of taking half chances, and he just buried it when it came.
“We had enough chances to win today, there is no doubt about that. Anyone who knows anything about football knows we did, but unfortunately we didn’t take them. Morton did. I think they had three chances in the game and took two of them.
“That was the difference between the two teams.”
Campbell admitted that his selection options had been limited with injuries and players not being fully fit, but made no excuses.
“We got beaten by quality players today. I was disappointed at how and when we lost the second goal. There is never a good time to lose a goal but at 1-1 we had got back into the game and they were kicking it anywhere.
“But we committed ourselves going forward, bombing forward when we didn’t need to. We were a bit silly so, yes, I would say I’m disappointed at losing that goal.
“There are going to be a lot of ups and downs between now and the end of the season. There is a lot of water to go under the bridge, and it’s very tight.
“I thought the players worked really hard, it just wasn’t our day.”
A cracking first half saw both sides enjoy great chances.
Forfar defender Iain Campbell twice saved the Loons with a clearance on the goal line in the space of 10 seconds, hacking clear from Ross Caldwell and Stefan McClusky.
At the other end Omar Kader set up two chances for Forfar with a couple of brilliant cross-field passes.
Danny Denholm forced a great one-handed save from Derek Galston.
Martyn Fotheringham then blazed over with just the keeper to beat.
Morton broke the deadlock after 34 minutes with a well-worked but controversial goal.
Mark Russell sent over a good cross for Ross Caldwell at the far post.
His header appeared to lose keeper Rab Douglas and strike the post, rolling along the goal line in slow motion for Joe McKee to net with the easiest of tap-ins, with Forfar claiming offside.
The high tempo continue into the second half.
Forfar levelled in the 65th minute. Michael Travis played a neat pass forward, dummied by Chris Templeman, and Denholm spun in on goal to slot the ball home.
But Ton restored their lead five minutes later with a well-worked goal.
Caldwell picked up wide and slipped a cut-back to Peter McDonald, who swept the ball high into the net from 10 yards out.