Rhys McCabe felt Lewis McGrattan’s red card ‘killed’ their hopes of victory but he praised his Diamonds for their plucky efforts against Partick.
The Airdrie boss watched his side fall to their fourth defeat in their last five Championship outings, but he was pleased with their application on a day where kick-off had been delayed for 40 minutes.
In a bizarre turn of events, an injury to one of the officials left the game in limbo and the match was delayed three times before a replacement was finally found – with even a plea to the crowd for a grade five official to come to the rescue.
During that delay, Jags and Liverpool legend Alan Hansen was interviewed pitchside to entertain fans before the hosts ran out 2-1 winners.
Brian Graham struck either side of Adam Frizzell’s leveller to win it and keep Airdrie – who had Lewis McGrattan sent off a late tackle on Kyle Turner – rock bottom of the Championship.
The Diamonds also had a goal from Cammy Copper ruled out for offside late on and McCabe said: “I’ve got to congratulate the boys for their effort and application. They didn’t deserve to be on the end of a scoreline like that, given the efforts they put in.
“In my opinion, the red card kills the game.
“But in saying that, we made a few changes and there was a goal that was offside by maybe a fraction, while there were a few decisions that didn’t go our way.
“I’m honest and I thought Partick dominated, and we were hanging on a bit and stuff.
“But even with 10 men – and nine men when Murray Aiken goes off injured – we were the ones looking to score goals and be on the front foot.
“It is difficult for me to come out and criticise any of the boys for their performance because we looked fit, we looked strong and, if anything, it looked like Partick were the team with 10 men.
“But, in my opinion, without saying too much here, the officials cancelled the game out.”
Graham opened the scoring after just five minutes when Logan Chalmers’ deflected strike fell kindly for him to hammer home a first-time strike at the back post.
Chalmers should have doubled their advantage when he pounced on a slip by Murray Aiken to run through one-on-one with goalkeeper Murray Johnson, but he went for a spectacular lob from the edge of the box that hit the crossbar.
The Diamonds dug in and eventually got their reward when neat play on the edge of the box saw Frizzell combine with McGrattan on the edge of the box and find the bottom corner with a sweet strike.
The woodwork came to Airdrie’s rescue when ex-Diamonds Kanayo Megwa saw a half-volley come back off the post in 52 minutes.
And their task was made tougher when McGrattan saw a straight red for a late lunge on Kyle Turner in midfield.
Some heroics from Sam Graham and Johnson kept out Megwa and Graham in a goalmouth scramble.
But Graham wasn’t to be denied again, as he poked home from Harry Milne’s driven cross in 72 minutes to win it.
McCabe was frustrated that his players didn’t heed his warning about predatory striker Graham at half-time.
He added: “The second goal is frustrating. Brian Graham is an established striker. That’s what he does, score goals.
“He is a predator in the box and we should have learned our lesson from his first goal.
“That was the message at half-time, that it was a slap on the wrist, but he scored a second goal.
“You see he is clever, he is sharp in the box, and we’ve got to make sure we are marking him and making sure he doesn’t have time and space.”
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