Brechin boss Ray McKinnon was disappointed to see his side finish the match empty-handed after giving league leaders Rangers a real fright in Saturday’s game at Glebe Park.
The home side were 2-0 ahead after just eight minutes with goals from Graham Hay and Jonny Brown, before Jon Daly pulled a goal back.
Alan Trouten restored the two-goal advantage for the Angus side but the lead was cancelled out by goals from Bilel Mohsni and Nicky Law, before Nicky Clark struck late on to maintain the Ibrox side’s 100% Scottish League One record.
McKinnon said: “I thought we deserved something out of the game. The guys were excellent. We are disappointed but we take huge positives out of the game.”
The visitors’ reaction to the winner clearly illustrated their relief and Clark was happy to accept a booking in order to celebrate his goal with the Rangers fans.
The forward came off the bench to claim the decisive goal and raced over to the away fans to celebrate his 84th-minute header, earning himself one of 11 yellow cards brandished by referee Craig Charleston.
He said: “The ref was a bit card happy wasn’t he? It’s the hardest job in football to be a referee though.
“I got booked after the goal. It’s the worst rule I’ve ever heard of to get booked for celebrating with the fans, but I’ll take it.
“As soon as I jumped in I knew I was getting booked, but I wasn’t caring.”
Clark joined Rangers in the summer following an impressive spell with Queen of the South, which saw him net more than 40 goals last season.
His appearances at the Ibrox club have been limited so far but he hopes Saturday’s goal will help him force his way into boss Ally McCoist’s plans.
He said: “It was an unbelievable feeling to score. To score the winning goal was amazing.
“The first half wasn’t the best, but I was just looking for a chance to do well and thankfully I did.
“I knew when I came to Rangers that they are a massive, massive club and they have a great squad here so when you get your chance you have to take it and I think I managed to do that.
“The manager just said to go on and work really hard and, if you get a chance to take it, and that’s what I did.
“Fair play to Brechin because they put us under a lot of pressure and, when we got it back to 2-1, they scored again.”
Trouten was sent off late on after picking up a second booking.