Hurst makes amends with Fifers’ winner

East Fife goalscorer Mark Docherty was delighted his side were able to bounce back from consecutive defeats with this hard-earned win.

The midfielder scored the winning goal from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time after a marauding run from Aaron Dunsmore was halted by Airdrie’s Keiran MacDonald.

Docherty was relieved to atone for his mistake that led to Queen’s Park’s winner, saying: “I made an error last week with a poor back pass to the keeper so I’m delighted to have made up for it today with the winner.

“It’s a great three points as Airdrie are always a tough team to play at home.

“We have to take confidence from winning here, although we made it hard for ourselves when they went down to 10 men.”

The Fifers were unfortunate not to take an early lead when referee Greg Aitken ruled Jordan McGregor was fouled by Craig Wilson as the Airdrie defender turned a corner into his own net.

The first half was devoid of clear-cut chances, although Airdrie found themselves in good positions but failed to test East Fife keeper Mark Hurst.

Tom Fry came closest to grabbing an equaliser just after the break when his volley from the edge of the area flew just wide.

Jake Hastie was sent off for Airdrie after being booked for simulation and was then show a second yellow card after having too much to say to the referee.

With Airdrie pushing for an equaliser, the visitors came close to sealing the victory when Chris Duggan’s powerful strike was saved by Rohan Ferguson.