Pat Scullion says Cowdenbeath could be found guilty of being naive as their disappointing start to the season continued.
The Fifers looked set for their second win of the campaign after Robbie Buchanan’s penalty and an Andrew Murdoch strike cancelled out David Cox’s opener.
But on-loan St Johnstone striker George Hunter equalised with a cross-shot then set up Liam Watt, who fired Airdrie to fourth place in the table.
Blue Brazil defender Scullion feels his side should have done enough to emerge with a point from Saturday’s trip to New Broomfield.
The 29-year-old said: “I thought we were the better side in the first half and then showed a bit of character to go 2-1 up.
“It looked like there was only going to be one winner but then they’ve scored with a fluke at best he has shanked his cross and it has ended up in the top corner.
“We still felt we could win the game but we’ve been done on the counter attack. Maybe it was a bit of naivety, and we should have settled for a point.
“The boys are disappointed but we will keep our heads up and we know we’re coming into a big week. We’ve got a young squad and we will learn from this.”
Diamonds striker Bryan Prunty was thwarted by keeper Jamie Sneddon before Cox opened the scoring from Adam Brown’s low ball.
The Blue Brazil pulled level from the spot just before the interval.
Buchanan was brought down in the area by Chris O’Neil and the 19-year-old converted with aplomb.
Cowdenbeath took the lead in the 58th minute after patient build-up play on the edge of the hosts’ box.
Gordon Smith fed Mo Yaqub on the left flank, and his back-post cross was smashed home by on-loan Rangers midfielder Murdoch.
The Diamonds equalised through Hunter’s cross-shot, with Watt completing the home side’s fightback four minutes later.
Cowdenbeath boss Colin Nish said: “We’ve had a really hard start to the season but we’re working hard on things and we know that we need to improve.”
Diamonds manager Gary Bollan said: “We’re delighted with the players.
“I think we’ve shown that we’ve got a bit about us, and we know we can play better.”