Montrose boss George Shields had a lot to be positive about, despite his side exiting the League Cup at the hands of Falkirk.
Shields said: “That was a lot better than last week. We stunned them by scoring early on, then the penalty decision for their equaliser was a bit harsh.
“My left-back says he won the ball and the guy went over him. Both the referee and his linesman were on the wrong side to see properly.
“The goal put a dampener on things for us then we lost another just on half-time to a deflected shot.
“If we had been ahead or even level at half-time we would have had a great chance. Even at 2-1 we kept ourselves in the game and had one or two chances.
“We limited them to a few chances and I am proud of the way we played against a team that will be aiming for top four in the Championship.
“If we take this form into the league we will not be far away. We were well organised and hard to break down.
“The score flattered them. We got caught in our left-back area at their third and they got in behind us, so we contributed to our own downfall.”
Montrose took the lead on 23 minutes. A Terry Masson cross took a deflection leaving the keeper in trouble and Garry Wood nodded home.
Seven minutes later, Craig Bell was judged to have fouled Olumide Durojaiye and Blair Alston scored from the spot.
A minute from the break, Alex Cooper scored with the aid of a deflection after finding space in the box.
Connor McGrandles hit the bar for Falkirk on the hour, then a saving tackle from Liam Dick denied Scott Johnston an equaliser.
Two minutes from time, McGrandles set up Scott Shepherd to wrap things up for the Bairns.