Arbroath’s fading League Two title hopes were dealt a potentially fatal blow at Gayfield last night as table-topping Albion Rovers secured a significant victory.
The Lichties defeat leaves them in third position, eight points behind the Coatbridge side with seven games remaining.
Rovers got off to a flying start when Ally Love flicked the ball over on-loan Dundee United goalkeeper Marc McCallum and into the net via an upright in the fourth minute to open the scoring.
Scott McBride found himself in a good position a few moments later but he was quickly closed down by the Albion defence and the chance was gone.
Simon Murray’s perseverance almost brought an equaliser in the 29th minute but he couldn’t quite direct the ball home, then play raged to the other end and Edward Ferns came close with a flashing drive from the right.
A dangerous cross into the box from Bobby Linn was missed by Murray as Arbroath upped their efforts to get back on level terms.
Ricky Little tried his luck from 20 yards but the defender’s effort flew a foot over the bar.
The home side pressed and Liam Rowan’s cross was headed over by Kevin Nicoll.
Love had a great chance to extend Rovers’ lead five minutes after the restart when he latched on to a Nicoll error but McCallum did well to block.
Arbroath continued to enjoy the bulk of possession but were stunned in the 65th minute when Garry Fisher cut in from the left and fired beyond McCallum to make it 2-0.
The second goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of the Lichties who huffed and puffed but struggled to create too many clearcut opportunities.
Gayfield boss Allan Moore threw on subs Paul McManus, Jordan Lowdon and Thomas Grant in a bid to retrieve the game but to no avail.