A James Graham hat-trick sent East Fife top after they came from
behind to beat Gretna 3-2.
Gretna opened the scoring in the fourth minute when Mark Dobie's shot was
tipped onto the post and Matthew Henney netted the rebound.
Graham equalised eight minutes later after goalkeeper David Mathieson spilled
a cross but the visitors regained the lead when John Hore headed in Dobie's
cross.
A controversial penalty given when Mathieson was adjudged to have brought down
Graham in the 52nd minute gave the striker his second.
Graham's treble arrived in the 70th minute when he slammed in the rebound
after Kenny Deuchar's shot was saved.
Peterhead moved into second place with a convincing 5-0
win over East Stirling in a dramatic match that saw the visitors reduced to
eight men.
The visitors had Steven Oates (41), Scott Findlay (69) and Graham McGhee (87)
all shown the red card.
The Blue Toon's opening goal came after 36 minutes when Andy Roddie's
free-kick was punched into his own net by Shire goalkeeper Findlay.
Martin Johnston put his side further in front with a goal one minute after the
restart and made it 3-0 from close range in the 48th minute before netting his
hat-trick after 71 minutes.
Substitute Terry Kidd volleyed in a fifth seven minutes from the end.
Albion Rovers were forced to take just a point from a 1-1 draw with Montrose
despite having the better of things throughout the match.
The first half was largely dominated by Rovers but they could not find the
net, and the match burst into life four minutes after the break when Steve
Kerrigan headed a simple goal for the visitors.
Rovers fought back and equalised in the 54th minute when Iain Diack collected
a great pass from veteran Kevin McAllister to knock the ball into the net at the
back post.
Chances at either end then went astray as poor finishing and stout defending
became the order of the day.
Alex Williams was the late hero as Morton finally broke Elgin's resistance in a
scrappy Third Division contest that finished 1-0 to the visitors.
The teenage hitman pounced 11 minutes from time to net a crucial close-range
effort after he was set up by substitute Warren Hawke.
The visitors always looked the more likely side to score, yet Elgin striker
Kevin Steele missed two very good chances during a first half dominated by the
windy conditions.
Stirling claimed their second win in a row with a 1-0 victory over Queen's
Park, but the bottom club could easily have taken a point at Forthbank.
The visitors, who have yet to score away from home in the league this season,
should have taken the lead after 14 minutes but James Allan saw his angled shot
saved by Chris Reid.
Stirling broke the deadlock in the 54th minute when David O'Brien did well on
the left and drove a shot across goal which was converted from close range by
Colin McKinnon.
Stirling had chances to add to the lead, notably through Steve Mallan and
Robert Dunn, but the visitors were in the game right until the end.
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook