Second Division: Play-offs up for grabs as Peterhead go down

Ayr United and Forfar Athletic grabbed play-off places with wins on Saturday, while Peterhead's relegation to the third division was also inked in after their 2-0 defeat at home to East Fife.

The second-placed Honest Men's extension to their season was secured with a 2-1 win away to Dumbarton, who could still end up in relegation play-off trouble. Alan Trouten fired his side in front and Michael Moffat's finish at the second attempt had Brian Reid's side two up after only 16 minutes.

A second-half own goal from Eddie Malone, when he turned in a Derek Carcary cross, sparked a Sons fightback. However, they could not force a leveller.

Reid said: "I thought we deserved to win and I am now targeting second place and moving into the play-offs with a bit of confidence behind us."

Dumbarton's Alan Adamson said: "We are still conceding soft goals and to make matters worse, we did that early today and gave ourselves a mountain to climb."

Forfar are coming to the boil at the right time and remain on course for their second successive promotion after defeating hosts Brechin City 1-0. It was a third win in a row for the Loons and their cause was helped when the home side lost David McKenna to a first-half red card after a clash with the visiting Martyn Fotheringham.

The Station Park men made their numerical advantage pay when Dale Hilson scored a second-half winner after Brechin goalkeeper Craig Nelson failed to hold a shot from Ross Campbell.

Forfar boss Dick Campbell said: "I am delighted that we have made the play-offs, especially as it is our first season in the second division. We deserved the win but I do feel sorry for Craig Nelson as he is a fine goalkeeper."

Glebe Park's Jim Weir said: "The sending-off and the mistake by Craig cost us. There was not much between the teams but now we have to win against Ayr and Stenhousemuir to reach the play-offs."

The Blue Toon's demotion came about in insipid fashion at Balmoor as East Fife boosted their play-off hopes with a 2-0 win.

Craig Johnstone scored in the first half and David Muir in the second to leave recently appointed Peterhead manager John Sheran saying: "We have simply not been good enough. People have said we have carried no luck but you have to make breaks for yourself."

East Fife manager John Robertson beamed: "We are still in the hunt which is fantastic. All we can do is keep winning games and see where that takes us "

Livingston won 4-2 at Airdrie to dent the Lanarkshire's side's hopes of sneaking into the play-offs.

Iain Russell grabbed a double to put Livingston two ahead after only seven minutes but the Diamonds responded before half-time through Paul Lovering's header.Graeme Owens levelled the game ten minutes into the second half, but a further two goals, from Raffaelle De Vita and young substitute Mark McNulty, secured the points for Livingston.

Lions manager Gary Bollan said: "We are determined to keep on winning. The players showed great character to come back after losing our lead."

Airdrie manager Jimmy Boyle added: "You cannot make mistakes like we did against a side like Livingston. They have players that will punish you."

Stenhousemuir pulled off-form Alloa closer to them in the relegation play-off stakes by winning 2-1 at Recreation Park.

The day started brightly for the Wasps as defender Scott Walker headed in, but Grant Anderson equalised in the second half from a Scott Dalziel knock-down.

Eric Paton scored the winner from the edge of the box after the referee awarded a foul for a David McClune back-pass.

Manager Allan Maitland said: "We could have made ourselves safe today but blew it. The dressing room is like a morgue, absolutely silent, everybody knows we have let ourselves down and let the fans down. The players certainly do not need me or anybody else to tell them."

Stenhousemuir manager David Irons added: "If we win our next two games we must be in with a real chance of staying up. We did not start the game well but fought our way into it."