Second Division: Coult hat-trick helps Cowdenbeath maintain their advantage

Cowdenbeath kept control of the leadership in the Second Division by seeing off Stirling Albion 4-1 at Central Park, with Lewis Coult grabbing a hat-trick to defeat the bottom placed side after a difficult opening half for Colin Cameron’s men.

Coult’s low drive opened the scoring on 12 minutes, but Gary Thom levelled before half-time with a close-range strike.

The striker re-established Cowdenbeath’s lead three minutes into the second period with a header, and just before the hour he completed his treble. Marc McKenzie rounded things off before the visiting Joshua Flood was dismissed after tangling with Kenny Adamson.

Cameron said: “We didn’t play well in the first half and we told the players they had to be more assertive. It was much better in the second half and we could have scored more than the three.”

Stirling assistant manager Shaun Fagan said: “We could have been leading at half-time, but we made a good few errors in the second half and were punished.”

Arbroath remain in hot pursuit of their Fife rivals following their 4-2 success at Forfar, where Stuart Malcolm’s header and Collin Samuel’s low drive had the visitors two ahead at half time.

Lee Sibanda made it three just after an hour, before Martyn Fotheringham pulled a goal back, with player/manager Paul Sheerin firing in his side’s fourth. Fotheringham grabbed another for the Station Park side but it was little more than a consolation.

Dumbarton won 2-1 at Ochilview against a Stenhousemuir side who played for nearly an hour with only nine men. Ross McMillan walked for a last-man challenge after just 10 minutes and team-mate Kevin McKinlay joined him after picking up a second yellow card for dissent.

Dumbarton’s Alan Lithgow headed in the opener on 36 minutes and a Michael Devlin own goal put the visitors two up before half-time. Gary Smith netted for the depleted Warriors 14 minutes from time as the Sons toiled to cash in on their numerical advantage.

Brechin City and visitors Airdrie United drew 1-1 with Paul McManus opening the scoring in the first half for the hosts when he squeezed in a rebound. The Diamonds looked to have the perfect opportunity to level when referee Des Roache awarded a penalty, but the whistler changed his mind after being advised by one of his assistants that Jamie Stevenson had dived. Derek Holmes headed Airdrie level before the hosts had Craig Molloy red-carded.

Albion Rovers ended a losing run by drawing 1-1 with visitors East Fife, with Jordan Halsman’s goal seven minutes from time cancelling out Ryan Wallace’s opener.