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Falkirk 44 Aberdeen Rugby 24
Aberdeen Grammar head coach was remarkably upbeat despite his side's third consecutive defeat, away to league leaders Falkirk, claiming there were positives to build on for the rest of the season.
Grammar struggled against an impressive Falkirk side but O'Connor said: "We were well in contention up until the final 15 minutes when we lost our momentum after the referee stopped play to allow treatment to an injured home player.
"Losing two late tries gave the result a gloss Falkirk hardly deserved.
Up to then we had been excellent. It was a massive improvement on the last two weeks. In particular stand off Sam Knudson was superb. There were also big shifts from centre Matt Arnold and prop Peter Neilson."
Falkirk led 23-9 at the break, but were pegged back early in the second half through a try from full back Conor Lavery, who also kicked a first half dropped goal to add to Knudson's two penalties.
Flanker Chris Jollands added a second try before captain Calum Champion plunged over to send ripples of apprehension through the ranks of the home support.
At only 30-24 down Grammar seemed poised to hand the leaders a first National 1 defeat, only to fall off the pace as the home side regrouped after play was held up, adding two late tries to seal the win.
Home stand off Liam Brims, formerly of Caithness, had a field day scoring a try, kicking three penalties and converting all five of his side's five tries.
Next up for Grammar is Selkirk who have made an unconvincing start to their campaign but are only one point behind the Rubislaw side who will view the fame as an opportunity to get its game back on track when the sides meet on Saturday.
© Jack Nixon
Aberdeen Rugby: Conor Lavery; Grant Walker, Matt Arnold, Alex Ratcliffe, Doug Russell; Sam Knudson, Jake Gray; Colin Neilson, Fegus McKenzie, Rob Rllinson; Matt McCall, Aaron Robertson; Calum Sangster, Calum Champion (c), Chris Jollands.
Replacements: Chris Prentice, Alex McLeod, Frank Selbie, Ali Addy, Isikeli Railoa.