Brechin City boss Ray McKinnon praised the spirit and battling qualities of his players after 10-man City came from two goals behind to clinch a thoroughly deserved share of the spoils in the 2-2 draw against Ayr United at Somerset Park.
City were left facing an uphill battle after centre-back Graham Hay was ordered off by referee Don Robertson after 34 minutes and Ayr took advantage to leap into a two-goal half-time lead, courtesy of Michael Moffat and Michael McGowan in the 43rd and 45th minutes.
However, City rolled their sleeves up after the break and set about their task of trying to take something from the game despite the odds being stacked against them.
Alan Trouten reduced the deficit when he headed home a Paul McLean cross after 68 minutes and McLean himself scored a dramatic equaliser two minutes into injury time when he poked the ball home after an Andy Jackson shot had been blocked by Ayr keeper David Hutton.
Delighted City boss McKinnon said, “ We were very disappointing in the first-half and, although Graham Hay’s challenge was reckless and deserved a booking, I didn’t think that it warranted a sending-off.
“Immediately after that we lost our shape and Ayr scored two goals in quick succession, which left us with a mountain to climb in the second-half. “
“I told the players at half-time that if they showed the correct desire, commitment and self-belief, they could definitely take something from the game and the lads didn’t let me down.
“The boys set about their plan after the break and showed great discipline.
“We went three up to stop their four getting out as we didn’t want Ayr dictating the play.
“We had two midfielders up against their two and went man for man at the back.
“We knew that it was going to be tough but the players worked their socks off, won every individual battle and put a lot of pressure on the Ayr defence .
“The lads showed fantastic commitment and desire to come back from two goals down and I can’t praise them highly enough for their comeback.
“I thought that they were magnificent and they certainly deserved a share of the points as I thought that they were by far the better team in the second-half.”