The Christmas cheer was in short supply for Stirling boss Alan Maybury as he conceded his side earned an early present to escape with a point against Stranraer on Saturday.
It looked like the Binos were on course to hold on under the Blues’ second-half onslaught on a filthy afternoon at Forthbank until Mark Russell stroked what looked to be the winning goal two minutes from time.
But as the seconds ticked down, Josh Kerr’s planted header secured a heart-stopping leveller with the last kick of the game to help ensure the turkey tasted a little better.
The late goal sent Binos gaffer Maybury charging down the touchline a la Jose Mourinho to celebrate with the Stirling fans.
However, after the game, he admitted the emotions were primarily of relief amid a continuing search for consistency in his side’s displays.
The Irishman said: “I think in the first half, we weren’t great but there weren’t loads of opportunities, we managed to hit the post before they did but in the second half we wanted a bit more, understanding what the conditions were and where to play.
“I thought Stranraer were better in that half and we have Gats to thank for keeping us in the game with some good saves and you think it might be one of those days where you can escape with an 0-0 but then we went the goal down.
“But credit to the boys, we’ve been good from set pieces all year and got one in the dying seconds.
“We know we need to be better, we want to be better, maybe it will be an important point at the end of the season.
“It’s Scottish football in the winter, so we will have a few days like this. I’m not sure that it was an excuse when it was swirling around, but it wasn’t a nice day for football for sure.”
The driving rain and wind made the weekend match a tough spectacle, but Maybury was keen not to make that an excuse for his side’s lacklustre performance.
Another tough test awaits after the Christmas break with a second trip to Station Park in a month – with bottom side Forfar Athletic hoping to drag the Binos into the relegation mire with three points.
It was a crazy encounter in late November in the Scottish Cup when the sides shared a six-goal extra-time stalemate before the Loons claimed the spoils with a penalty shootout win.
Maybury added: “We need to get that consistency, it was about trying to build on last week and we didn’t put in that same sort of performance, so I’m trying to get that understanding of what it takes to win games in the winter in League Two.
“A performance similar to the Elgin game would have won the game and we had consistency of selection with only the one change, the same team is going out but we’re just a little up and down this season.”