Players showed they’re made of the right stuff

Peterhead continued their pursuit of League 2 leaders Edinburgh City with a win that was more about graft rather than craft.

The hosts had the better of the first half without creating serious danger with the Blue Toon’s biggest concern being the back injury that saw Rory McAllister come off to be replaced by Willie Gibson.

Some straight talking from manager Jim McInally at halftime galvanised the Balmoor boys with goals from Ryan Dow and substitute Russell McLean earning the points.

McInally said: “I said at the break that we had been poor, and that Albion Rovers’ enthusiasm was better than ours. Neither goalkeeper had been troubled, the pitch was lifeless, and the wind was a factor, but we were still not doing the basics properly.

“I said that if we want to win a league then we have to win games like this and to be fair we were better in the second half. We had some big performances in that second half from the likes of Mick Dunlop, Simon Ferry and Ryan Dow as well as others.”

After losing to Clyde last weekend the win in Coatbridge was extra satisfying with McInally saying: “We have only lost three games, but we have bounced back after those defeats. It was important to do that today as Albion Rovers are improving and their fans were right behind them.

“We were nice and professional in the second half on a pitch that Pep Guardiola would struggle to get a team to play football on.”

The result keeps Peterhead three points adrift of League 2 leaders Edinburgh City, who thumped Queen’s Park 4-0.

McInally added: “The players went into the second half knowing Edinburgh City and Clyde were winning. We had lost Rory by that time to a back injury and Jamie was struggling as well so it says a lot for the squad.”

“We were nice and professional in the second half”

Jim McInally: Found pitch difficult