Airdrie 1 Dunfermline 2: Pars get better of Diamonds again to dent top four push

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Airdrieonians suffered back-to-back defeats to Dunfermline this season - and successive losses in the Championship - after a dismal day in the rain at New Broomfield.A first half strike from Josh Edwards and a second half effort from Pars substitute Matty Todd consigned Rhys McCabe's men to a second defeat on the bounce, amid Calum Gallagher's stoppage time penalty.And it means the Diamonds - who hit the bar in the first half through ex-Par Nikolay Todorov - now haven't beaten Dunfermline in their last six meetings.Airdrie had hoped to close the gap on their opponents to boost their top four chances, but they now trail Dunfermline by four points in fifth-place, having played a game more, and have Inverness breathing down their necks in sixth.

Duncan Ferguson's side moved to within a point after victory at Queen's Park and have a game in hand amid the battle for the promotion spots.Player-boss McCabe made three changes from last week's 2-1 defeat at Partick as Calum Gallagher, Gabby McGill and Charlie Telfer dropped out, with Mason Hancock, Gavin Gallagher and Nikolay Todorov coming in.The hosts created the first big chance of the match in 18 minutes when Adam Frizzell whipped in a corner from the right to find the head of Todorov.

The Bulgarian glanced an effort towards goal and it took a fine fingertip save from Pars keeper Deniz Mehmet to deny him, tipping the ball onto the crossbar before it was cleared away from danger.Ten minutes later, Dunfermline broke down the other end and passed up a glorious chance to take the lead.

Ben Summers beat outrushing Airdrie keeper Josh Rae to the ball and when he crossed into the box for Lewis McCann, he missed an open goal as he headed off target.Dunfermline didn't make the same