Ten-man Raith Rovers survived a late onslaught to claim a hard-fought point at Falkirk Stadium on Saturday.
Rovers twice fought back from a goal down but were forced to hang on in the closing stages after an 83rd minute red card for Kyle Benedictus following a strong challenge on Bairns sub Myles Hippolyte.
To make matters worse for the Kirkcaldy side, they played most of the remaining time with nine men after Jason Thomson was forced onto the sidelines with a bloodied shirt after suffering a suspected broken nose in an off-the-ball clash with Hippolyte.
Despite swapping shirts several times, Thomson was prevented from returning to the field until the final minute of injury time after watching his team-mates desperately defend against waves of Falkirk attacks.
Thomson said: “I think I had three or four shirts on at one point.
“At first the lino said I could go on, but we couldn’t get it to stop bleeding.
“When we eventually got it to stop, I think there was only about a minute left.
“They put a lot of pressure on us. There was a lot of free-kicks and corners but the boys dealt with it well. We got a well deserved draw.”
Thomson insisted there was no malice in the clash with Hippolyte.
“I think it was accidental,” he said. “I’ve fell over the ball to win a free-kick and his knee has hit me in the nose. There wasn’t much he could do. I’ll just need to get on with it.”
Thomson came off the bench to make his first appearance in over three months since suffering a fractured back in an awkward fall during a 3-0 defeat to Livingston on October 31.
“It’s the first time I’ve been injured since I came here and it’s been very tough. It’s been harder than I thought to try and get back in. I’m back now so hopefully I can kick on and get back in the team,” he said.
The match went ahead despite a covering of snow on the artificial pitch and Falkirk dealt with the conditions best in the opening stages, taking the lead on 15 minutes when Blair Alston burst through a static Raith defence to clip an effort past Kevin Cuthbert.
Rovers had a chance to equalise immediately but Mark Stewart was denied by goalkeeper Danny Rogers after sprinting in behind the Falkirk defence.
The leveller was delayed by only a few seconds, however, as, from the resultant corner, Alston’s attempted clearance cannoned off James Craigen and flew into the net via the post a welcome stroke of luck for Raith after five games without a goal.
Falkirk restored their lead on 20 minutes when David McCracken rose unchallenged to power a header past Cuthbert from Mark Kerr’s inswinging free-kick.
The hosts had chances to extend their lead early with Ross Callachan clearing off the line when Paul Watson diverted a corner kick towards the near post, before Cuthbert parried John Baird’s close-range effort.
Raith rallied after boss Ray McKinnon introduced skipper Thomson from the bench, and the equaliser duly arrived on 69 minutes as Mark Stewart broke the offside trap to fire beyond Rogers for 2-2.
Rovers tails were now up and the visitors were pushing for a winner when Benedictus lunged into a two-footed tackle on Hippolyte and referee John Beaton brandished a red card.
Falkirk laid siege to the Raith goal in the closing stages particularly once Thomson went off for treatment but the Kirkcaldy side frantically held on for a point.
Bairns boss Peter Houston described his side’s second half display as “rubbish”.
“We had too many players who dropped their standards,” he said.