Brechin City’s hopes of making it three wins from three games were ended at Glebe Park in a 1-0 defeat by Stenhousemuir.
The only goal came in 38 minutes when former City midfielder Bryan Hodge picked up a clearance at the edge of the City box and fired home a low drive into the bottom right corner.
The goal was against the run of play as City had started well, playing great football and exerting pressure on the Warriors defence.
Andy Jackson and Ryan Donnelly came close to opening the scoring in the first 20 minutes, and Donnelly had headed home what appeared to be the opener after nine minutes only for the goal to be disallowed as he was adjudged offside.
City were made to rue those missed opportunities by Hodge’s goal.
Although they tried hard in the second-half and retained the majority of pressure and possession, the fluency and rhythm they displayed in the opening 45 minutes was missing.
Their misery was compounded in the 64th minute when they were awarded a penalty after Alan Trouten was upended in the box by Sean Lynch, only for Trouten to see his spot-kick saved by Warriors keeper Chris Smith.
City boss Ray McKinnon said: “I’m gobsmacked to lose the game today. The result was very cruel on the players because that’s probably the best football we’ve played this season in terms of our passing, cutting teams open and creating chances.
“We dominated the game from start to finish and Stenny, who had one shot in the entire match, scored from it.”
“I feel really sorry for the players because it was a great performance going forward. But we just couldn’t put the ball in the net, which is unlike us.”
The manager heaped praise on City midfielder Alan Trouten, despite the missed second-half penalty.
“In football, players miss penalties, and I’m not too worried about that, and Alan has been such a superb player for us this season.
“Even after the penalty miss he took that ball and still drove and drove the team forward.
“That just shows the character of the man, and he’s been an absolutely fantastic player for us.”