Cumbernauld Colts boss David Proctor was frustrated his side came away from his old stomping ground empty-handed as East Kilbride ran out winners on his hometown homecoming.
The 38-year-old spent four years at East Kilbride as a player and coach and came agonisingly close to taking something from his old side on his first match at K-Park as a gaffer.
It looked like it might be Cumbernauld's day when Colts keeper Ryan Adamson made a top save to deny Neil McLaughlin from the penalty spot just after the hour mark.
But moments later, Gary Miller's header broke the deadlock for the Lowland League leaders and in stoppage time Colts' Craig Holmes saw his goal-bound strike cleared off the line by Miller to deny Proctor's men a point.
And he said: "I think over the piece the boys put enough effort in and showed enough quality as well to say we probably should have come away with something.
"We had enough chances that we weren't clinical enough with in the first half and then we had the ball cleared off the line in the last few moments of the game.
"I think the boys deserve credit for their efforts but if it is going to be one of those days when you aren't going to win the game, you have to learn how to not lose the game.
"East Kilbride are at the top of the table for a reason and when they are not on form, they are able to grind out results.
"Ryan is very capable of making those types of saves and we were hoping that would be a turning point in the game.
"To be fair, we did finish the game reasonably strong but they've had their goal to defend and cling onto, and they defended really well.
"It's tough to take but it's a learning curve for us. We'll need to swallow it and go again on Tuesday night against Broomhill, which will be another tough game."
It's now back-to-back 1-0 sickeners for Colts after they exited the Scottish Cup at the first hurdle last week to lowly Lowland rivals Dalbeattie Star, who sit bottom of the pile while Colts sit 11th.
Proctor added: "It's been a tough couple of games. We are not getting outplayed or losing games by large margins. It's fine lines.
"But we need to take it to the next level if we want to be up at the top end challenging. I don't think we are too far away [from that]."
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