To beat Shettleston 1-0 wasn’t quite the resounding victory Petershill craved on Saturday, but they had good cause to be sporting the biggest smiles come the final whistle.

And why shouldn’t they not after stopping the rot with a first win in four league outings (and against the current frontrunners at that) acted to bunch things up atop the Super First Division standings and provide a welcome shot in the arm for the Peasy’s previously faltering title aspirations.

Team boss Willie Patterson’s delight over the three points haul was muted by his concern over a sickening injury blow to Liam Finnigan who had been stretchered off in obvious distress following an innocuous 55th-minute tackle.

He said: "Liam has dislocated his fibia bone and is facing a lengthy spell out of action, particularly if an examination reveals knee ligament damage as well.

“And it’s a real bad blow to the lad in a personal sense as the injury has kyboshed holiday plans that had him due to fly out to Tenerife on Sunday morning.

“He’s the latest in long line of serious injuries that have afflicted us this season and yet again it’s a key player that’s been laid low so hopefully the damage will not be as bad as first thought and Liam will be back playing before too long.”

Reflecting on the hard-fought 90 minutes, Patterson added: "It was probably one of our poorest performances out there, but today was all about getting a result so I won’t be too critical of the guys.

“Defeat would have put Shettleston 12 points in front of us so this is a massive victory and all the more pleasing because Connor Stevenson has scored the winning goal.

“He’s been left out of our starting eleven lately yet his commitment and attitude have been nothing less than outstanding so he deserves his day in the spotlight.”

Ironically, 24-year-old ex-Clyde signing Stevenson had been introduced as replacement for the unfortunate Finnigan and he wasted no time in making his mark, taking full advantage of a break of the ball in 59 minutes, to surge into Shettleston’s penalty area and fire a low angular shot beyond the reach of visiting goalkeeper Garry Whyte.

His shot was one of the few scoring efforts of note in a dour struggle of a game where defences dominated with Ross Dickson catching the eye in Shettleston’s backline and Kevin Nicol proving a colossus for the Peasy.

Losing co-boss John Fallon’s frank assessment of what was only the Town’s second league defeat of the season served as an explanation of the shortcomings in the playing squad he and his dad (also John) inherited when appointed to the role of Greenfield Park co-managers last month.

Fallon conceded: "We’ve resorted to cobbling together whatever players are available in order to get bodies in the door and to be fair we cannot fault the application as the guys are giving us everything.

“But there is always a need for a touch of quality and you seen that today in the Petershill striker Chris Hall whose ability to hold up the ball and bring team-mates into play caused us no end of problems even if our covering work was first class.

“Our hope is to bring in further additions who can maybe make that key difference when games are as tight as today and can help us meet the demands of staying top of the pile.”

The final whistle coincided with Petershill supporters discovering their Scottish Junior Cup fifth round opponents after word filtered through of Wayne McIntosh(2) and Adam Nelson goals enabling East Region big guns Bonnyrigg Rose to overcome Kilsyth Rangers 3-0 in their 4th round replay.

Joining the Peasy on the Super First Division 25-point mark are Irvine Meadow for whom Ben Carson (pen) and Ben Black were on target in a 2-0 defeat of Shotts Bon Accord while Renfrew passed up a glorious opportunity to further their promotion dreams in drawing 2-2 at home to Maryhill.

The points were looking in the bag with Renfrew 2-0 to the good through Chris Zok (pen) and Fraser Barbour goals only for Maryhill midfielder Joe Beckley to earn parity by netting twice in the closing stages.

In the top flight, reigning champions Auchinleck Talbot closed the points gap on leaders Rob Roy by running out 2-1 winners over Largs Thistle with Bryan Young and Ross Harvey on the mark.

But fellow title challengers Beith had to settle for a share of the spoils at Bellsdale where they were twice pegged back by goals from Cumnock pair Josh Watt and Scott Anson in a 2-2 stalemate.

At the other end of the table, Kilwinning Rangers’ plight worsened in going down 3-1 at home to Kilbirnie Ladeside whose marksmen were twin strikers Martin Grehan and Adam Forde (2) .

And a relegation predicament looks on the cards for Troon after they went down 3-2 at home to Hurlford United who were thoroughly deserved winners even if a brace of late Mark Curragh goals for the home side put a better complexion on the scoreline derived through Paul McKenzie(2) and Stewart Kean scores.

Weekend results: Scottish Junior Cup Fourth Round.Replay.

Bonnyrigg Rose 3 Kilsyth Rangers 0.

McBookie.com Super Premier Division. Auchinleck Talbot 2 Largs Thistle 1, Cumnock 2 Beith 2, Kilwinning Rangers 1 Kilbirnie Ladeside 3,Troon 2 Hurlford Utd 3.

McBookie.com Super First Division.

Petershill 1 Shettleston 0, Renfrew 2 Maryhill 2, Irvine Meadow 2 Shotts Bon Accord 0.

McBookie.com Central First.

Benburb 1 Rossvale 1, Greenock 3 Vale of Clyde 2.

McBookie.com Central Second Division.

Carluke Rovers 3 Gartcairn 2, Glasgow Perthshire 4 Vale of Leven 0, Lanark Utd 4 St Anthony's 2.

McBookie.com Ayrshire District League.

Darvel 4 Ardrossan Winton Rovers 3, Maybole 5 Saltcoats Vics 1.