THEY may have only picked up a point and had their winning run halted at two.

But, Sauchie coach Darren Petrie is sure the Reds' draw with Crossgates Primrose would have ended in defeat only weeks ago.

A late own goal rescued a point for Fraser Duncan's Premier Division side on Saturday after Scott Lawrie had opened the scoring against the run of play with a howitzer of a free kick.

Despite the grumbles from some of the Sauchie faithful over the side's poor performance, Petrie was seeing the positives in their new found resilience as they battled back from behind for the second week running.

"It feels pretty mixed at the end of it, but to get seven points from nine before we played these games is something we would have taken," Petrie told Advertiser Sport.

"The first half wasn't good enough and the boys know that, but the second half was much better so we are disappointed not to win.

"We are happy we didn't lose it as they had chances as well.

"To come away with seven points out of nine is a big boost for the team going into the Camelon game next week and now we are starting to show what we are about.

"I would fully expect us to to push on now especially with the players we are getting back from injury."

He added: "It shows a lot of character and it is hard to comeback from behind.

"That depends on what kinds of players you have got and we have shown that we have the determination to come back in the last few weeks.

"It's up to the boys to have that in them and they have shown it to us."

Sauchie struggled in the first half of the clash to get going and a Jordan Wright header and Conor Langton effort aside they rarely opened up their opponents.

They improved after the break and, despite Crossgates opening the scoring, the Reds earned a deserved equaliser when Langton forced a defender to bundle past his own goalkeeper.

Petrie said: "Sometimes you need to do the dirty side of the game to earn the right to play and that can be anything from winning a big tackle.

"Seven points out of nine is a good start to Fraser Duncan and Davie Beaton's reign and the whole atmosphere about the place is so much more positive.

"We need to just keep what we are doing and see where the run goes."

Meanwhile, the Wee Sauchie return to Beechwood Park on Saturday as they host Stoneyburn FC in the East of Scotland Cup. Kick off is 1.45pm.