Arbroath’s hopes of avoiding the relegation play-offs are boosted by a no-score draw against leaders Alloa.
Boss Jim Weir was disappointed his side couldn’t grab three points after dominating a wind-affected match.
“The conditions were poor for both teams but we just needed a bit of luck in front of goal,” he said.
“We lacked a wee bit of clinical finishing in the second half. We had a number of chances but they just seemed to end up in the goalkeeper’s arms.”
With the fierce Gayfield gale making free-flowing football a rarity, neither team recorded a shot on target in the first half.
The home side had the better of the limited chances through a series of corners, but Alan Rattray, Gerry McLaughlin and Euan Moyes all headed wide when they should have done better.
Arbroath, with the wind at their backs, dominated the second half and made two big chances.
Bryan Scott cut the ball back to the arriving Keith Gibson in the 56th minute but the midfielder pulled his shot wide.
With 10 minutes left, Steven Doris collected a loose ball but his well-struck shot was straight at Alloa keeper David Crawford.InjuriesWith East Fife losing to Clyde, the Lichties face a huge match next weekend when they travel to the Bully Wee.
Weir added, “We’ve got so many injuries at the moment that we’ll need to look at training this week so we can recharge the batteries ahead of a massive game next Saturday.”
Goals from Rory McAllister and debut boy Mark Archdeacon ensured Brechin took all three points at Stenhousemuir.
City got off to the perfect start with just seven minutes gone when Charlie King sent over a pinpoint cross that McAllister headed home.
Stenhousemuir pulled themselves back into the match around the half-hour mark when Ian Diack levelled the tie.
But an instinctive Archdeacon finish in the 67th minute secured all three points for Brechin.
Brechin boss Jim Duffy said, “It wasn’t a comfortable win but I thought we deserved it and we played well for the majority of the game.
“There is no doubt that we were the better side over the course of the match.Confidence”The goals gave us a bit of confidence. The first was a link-up between Charlie King and Rory McAllister. Those two have been linking up for us all season and it was another excellent move by them again.
“Archdeacon was just signed from Motherwell on the morning of the match and his strike was an instinctive striker’s goal.
“He was the first to react to it and knocked it into the net. It was a good way for us to win-particularly on his debut.
“I thought our midfield of Barry Smith, Neil Janczyk and Gary Fusco were stand-outs for us.
“Those three controlled that area, and if you do that, then you get a good supply to the strikers and also protect the back line.
“That was key. I asked the team to show a bit more belief in themselves and they got on the ball better, because they didn’t really do that against Arbroath in midweek.”