A second-half horror show saw Cowdenbeath plunge into the Ladbrokes League One relegation play-offs zone.
After having led at the interval the Fifers fell apart in the second period and lost three goals in eight minutes.
Now they have to go to Stranraer this weekend and win – anything else will plunge them into the Ladbrokes League One relegation play-offs.
While Forfar were losing away to Albion Rovers, Brechin City were winning at Stair Park and the results mean the Blues currently are second bottom on goal difference with City on the same 39 points.
Stenhousemuir are a point ahead of them so it is all down to the last day. Brechin are at Forfar while Stenny entertain Albion Rovers, who still have their eyes on a promotion play-off spot.
Cowden struggled to put together many really good moves but took the lead on 42 minutes when defender Craig Sives headed in Jack Beaumont’s free-kick.
But after the break the disjointed home play continued and once Alan Cook had headed home on 70 minutes Cowdenbeath fell away and a Jon Robertson header five minutes later put Stenny ahead and on 78 minutes Cook’s 25-yard thunderbolt completed the comeback.
So Cowden simply have to win, a point stressed by their manager Colin Nish, who was bitterly disappointed by the performance.
He said: “Although we had led by a goal at half-time we did not play at all well in the first period.
“Stenhousemuir looked the hungrier side and were always ready to have a go while we were flat.
“What that performance has done has put us in a very difficult position, for even if we win next Saturday it might not be enough to keep us out of the play-offs.”
He added: “The performance against Stenny was pretty typical of our home form this season. We really did not get in their faces enough and we certainly need more dig when we go to Stranraer”.
Stranraer’s defeat by Brechin has left the door open for Albion Rovers to make the promotion play-offs so the Blues will not be taking their foot of the gas, but on the upside it means that Rovers will be going to Stenny to win.
Nish wants his team to produce another good away showing.
“We have been pretty decent on the road since the turn of the year and another winning performance could be enough to see us into the safety zone,”he said.
Stenny manager Brown Ferguson was relieved to get the win but knows that there is still much to be done.
He said: “I felt we were really unlucky to be behind at half-time but credit to the lads they kept working hard and once we got the equaliser we really took the game by the scruff of the neck.
“We created some excellent chances and were very worthy of the win, but now we have to do it all again on Saturday against Albion Rovers to be sure of being safe.”