Arbroath boss Paul Sheerin admitted he was proud of his battling side as the Lichties twice held the lead in their clash with runaway League One leaders Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday.
A penalty from Gers captain Lee McCulloch allowed the Gers to scrape a 3-2 victory in a thrilling contest.
The Glasgow side were twice forced to fight back from behind as goals from Jon Daly and David Templeton cancelled out strikes from David Banjo and Bobby Linn.
McCulloch’s late spot-kick then proved to be decisive as Rangers managed to hold on for the win and move 23 points ahead of second-placed Dunfermline.
Sheerin who was unhappy with the penalty award said: “I’m proud but ultimately we have lost the game so it is pointless being proud when you lose football matches.
“I think everybody gets caught up in this thing about going to Ibrox or Celtic Park that you’re the smaller club, which is rightly so, but we set up to win any football match, whether we train for four hours or 40 hours a week.
“It frustrates the life out of me when people say ‘enjoy your day’ because the only way you enjoy your day is when you win.”
Rangers goalkeeper Cammy Bell reclaimed the gloves despite an impressive display from stand-in Steve Simonsen at Forfar on Monday after the regular number one missed the last match due to the birth of his daughter.
Ian Black was also back in the starting line-up after returning from suspension but Arnold Peralta had to settle for a place on the bench after serving his own ban.
Arbroath had shipped eight goals with just one in reply in two previous meetings with Rangers this season.
But they had managed to open the scoring in a 5-1 defeat on their last visit to Ibrox and it was deja vu as the Red Lichties surged into the lead again on this occasion.
The match was just two minutes old when Alan Cook’s cross from the left found Banjo in space and he was able to dispatch the ball into the back of the net at the back post.
Rangers attempted to hit back immediately and a corner cleared only as far as Lee Wallace saw the left-back launch a thunderous effort that flashed just past the post.
Black then sent a free-kick curling just over the bar, before the home side levelled on 21 minutes. It was Black who started the move when he released Wallace down the left flank and he cut back for Daly to stroke past goalkeeper Scott Morrison.
Rangers were threatening again when Dean Shiels cut inside from the right only to smash his shot into the side-netting.
The home side were denied just before the break when Bilel Mohsni’s header was cleared off the line by an alert Alex Keddie.
Rangers still looked dangerous after the restart and an over-head kick from Shiels released Nicky Law through on goal but his effort was blocked by Morrison.
It was Arbroath, however, who had the net bulging again after 50 minutes when a McCulloch mistake allowed Linn to break free of the Gers defence and unleash a shot that came off the inside of the far post and trundled over the line.
Jeers rang around the stadium as furious fans made their feelings at the shock scoreline known.
Lewis Macleod hobbled out of the action and was replaced by Templeton a minute after the goal, before Shiels was swapped for Andy Little three minutes after the first substitution.
It was one of those replacements who hauled Rangers back into the game with the second equaliser of the day after 72 minutes when Templeton forced his way into the box before drilling low past Morrison.
Seconds later, Mohsni also had the ball in the net, when he pounced on the rebound after Templeton’s effort struck the post, but the close-range shot was ruled offside.
Rangers did manage to edge in front with 12 minutes to go when Daly was felled in the box and McCulloch stepped up to convert the resultant spot-kick with confidence to secure the points as the hosts survived a last-gasp scramble in their box.
Rangers boss Ally McCoist, who hailed the impact of sub David Templeton, said: “We lost two poor goals.
“The first one was a real disappointment early on and the second one was arguably worse right at the start of the second half.
“I said to the lads at half-time that for the vast majority of the game they played really well. I thought they knocked the ball about and showed a lot of spirit and they worked very hard for each other. We created a lot of openings and we had a few chances to score.
“We probably put ourselves under pressure with the two goals we lost, which was uncharacteristic of us to lose those types of goals.”