Bare Bayview scoreline puts Cove further adrift
East Fife and Cove Rangers huffed and puffed, but neither side could get their nose in front at Bayview.
It was an entertaining enough goalless draw, but one which saw both sides lack a cutting edge.
A missed second-half penalty summed up the 90 minutes.
The Bayview side named an unchanged starting XI from last Saturday when Darren Young’s men swatted aside Clyde 3-1.
They were aiming to build on that positive momentum and started the game quickly, Ryan Wallace and Nathan Austin linking well in attack.
Cove gradually worked their way into things and were presented with a terrific chance to open the scoring after 20 minutes when a Scott Ross throw in found Mitch Megginson six yards out.
The forward’s shot, though, was tame and held comfortably by Brett Long.
At the other end, Ryan Wallace found Danny Denholm inside the Cove box, but his drive was blocked.
Danny Denholm passed up another chance for the home side when he was afforded a clear sight of goal, only to drag his effort and fail to trouble Stuart Mckenzie.
Shortly before the hour, the visitors had the opportunity to break the deadlock from a penalty when Watt tripped Connor Smith. But Megginson’s strike was saved by Brett Long, who also got up to beat away the rebound.
Cove now drop six points behind leaders Falkirk in second place.
AIRDRIEONIANS 2 PARTICK THISTLE 4
Airdrie took the lead in just two minutes after a long throw from Paul Mckay was not cleared by the visiting defence, with Jack Mckay sending the ball into the net past a helpless Kieran Wright in the Thistle goal.
Thistle were working hard to get level and went close on a number of occasions in front of goal and hit the post and crossbar.
They bagged an equaliser in 35 minutes after keeper Wright pulled off a stunning save, then raced upfield with Scott Tiffoney providing a great finish to send them in level at the break.
In 47 minutes, Richard Foster’s cross from the left was headed into the net by Brian Graham, then, two minute later, Connor Murray fired the ball past keeper Max Currie from Tiffoney’s pass.
Thistle added a fourth when Tiffoney headed home a Ryan Williamson cross in 62 minutes.
Ally Roy pulled a goal back in 72 minutes, while Sean Crichton saw red with 12 minutes left for his challenge on Mouhammed Niang.
MONTROSE 2 CLYDE 2
Clyde went close in 20 minutes. A Luke Jamieson corner broke out to Mark Mcglinchey and his shot came back off the post.
Montrose took the lead in 31 minutes. Cammy Ballantyne was brought down in the box by Kevin Nicol and Graham Webster scored from the spot.
Clyde were level just a minute later. Keeper Aaron Lennox took too long to kick the ball clear and his attempted clearance broke off Jamieson and into the net.
Clyde went 2-1 up in 36 minutes. Jack Thomson fed Jamieson and his shot squirmed under Lennox and over the line.
Montrose were back level in 42 minutes. A corner was cleared as far as Webster and he found the net with a volley from 30 yards.
In 59 minutes, Jamieson beat two defenders and was denied his hat-trick by a Lennox save.
Webster went close to winning it for Montrose in 75 minutes when he hit the sidenet.
FORFAR 0 FALKIRK 2
A quiet opening period saw The Bairns struggle to carve out any real chances during a spell they largely dominated.
Aiden Keena was the first to have a slight sight of goal after Blair Alston found him in the box in the 12th minute, however he could only shank a shot well wide.
It was the 25th minute before Falkirk found their breakthrough and it came out of nowhere.
Charlie Telfer drove out of right midfield and fired a shot towards goal from a long distance. The effort wrong-footed Marc Mccallum and tucked itself into the bottom corner to give the league leaders a goal their possession merited.
The game was dead and buried just three minutes after the restart. The usually-reliable Mccallum produced a howler after he lost control of the ball at his feet and teed up Alston, who slotted into the empty net.
Falkirk continued to control and Alston almost added to his tally, lashing a free-kick from 30 yards on to the post.
Murray Mackintosh came closest to pulling one back for the Loons, but his header from a sublime Ross Meechan cross was knocked off the line by Ben Hall .
DUMBARTON 0 PETERHEAD 1
Ben Armour scored the winner against his former club for the third win in a row to give Peterhead three points from a turgid contest at Dumbarton.
The striker provided virtually the game’s only moment of quality on 52 minutes, spinning to score from the edge of the area.
Sons had a few half-chances in the first half, but headers by Nick Mcallister and Tomas Brindley failed to seriously trouble the goalkeeper.
The Blue Toon then had the best chance of the opening 45 minutes when Hamish Ritchie hit the post from close range.
Seven minutes after the restart, the visitors punished a poor concession of the ball by the home side by working it up the pitch for Armour to finish.
Dumbarton failed to muster anything in response and have now suffered back-to-back home defeats against teams in the same part of the table.