Petershill paid for failing to break down a resolute and determined Clydebank backline despite giving a good account of themselves for 45 minutes in their 2-0 reverse on Saturday.

And it was surely more than a touch ironic that this perceived lack of a cutting edge was laid bare against the Super Premier Division's lowest- scoring team, who can count themselves fortunate not to have been trailing at the interval, even though Peasy goalkeeper Danny McLeay was forced into terrific diving saves to thwart Derek Carcary and Kyle Cumming.

The opening part had seen the Bankies mainly under the cosh and forced to play an often-desperate rearguard action - not helped by enforced personnel reshuffles as a result of injuries to Jordan Shelvey and Andy Patterson - but once the jet-paced Carcary set up Ian Gold to deftly glance home the game's opening goal on the hour mark, there was only going to be one winner.

And the outcome was put beyond doubt in 75 minutes when Carcary's showing a clean pair of heels down the left flank led to him firing over a driven cross that a tumbling Jamie Campbell helped over the line for 2-0.

The downed Bankie was then painfully struck full in the face by the ball lashed from the boot of frustrated Peasy centre-back Jordan Chisholm, whose yellow card proved to be a lucky escape for all of eight minutes before a fairly innocuous challenge on Bankies forward Joe Andrew also incurred the wrath of whistler David Burns and led to the stopper getting his marching orders.

"We didn't want to be coming in after the game and churning out the same old tale of playing really well, but being punished for our mistakes," revealed Bankies assistant boss Stuart Allison afterwards.

"Going 1-0 ahead provided a confidence lift, but our second goal really saw the old self-belief and desire come out in the players and they finished the game on a real high."

His side's first league win of the season was a belated and welcome Christmas present, according to gaffer Budgie McGhie, who praised his team's defensive steel.

He said: "Our on-loan Queen's Park centre-back David McWilliams was outstanding, and a special mention also to full-back Austin McCann, who showed all his experience and nous to snuff out Peasy dangerman Mark Lamont, despite playing with a troublesome groin injury."

Clydebank's triumph would have been significantly more meaningful but for two of their fellow-basement battlers notching victories of their own.

Undoubtedly the biggest shock of the day occurred at Meadow Park where visiting Kilbirnie Ladeside confounded a formbook showing they had lost five league games on the spin to overcome previously unbeaten league leaders Irvine Meadow by a 3-1 scoreline.

And this was no fluke result causing countless fixed odds coupons to be torn into small pieces because the Blasties were worthy winners and had been 3-0 to the good through Ryan Borris, Billy Gibson and Ritchie Barr goals before Josh Flood's late counter for the home side put a better complexion on the scoreline.

Second bottom of the standings Cumnock boosted their hopes of clambering away from relegation danger with an emphatic 4-1 defeat of Shotts Bon Accord that also acted to drag the Lanarkshire outfit into the mire.

And John McKeown's men racked up a first league win for him by fighting back from conceding an early Stephen Canning goal for Shotts to net four times through Robert Love, Ryan Nesbit, Owen Ronald and new signing Tony Low.

Meanwhile, Medda's lead atop the table is now down to four points over a two-games-fewer-played Auchinleck Talbot after the reigning champions deservedly triumphed 2-0 away to Beith through Gordon Pope and Graham Wilson (penalty) scores.

Arguably the only other team capable of figuring in the title mix, the ever-improving Hurlford United, stayed in the race by staging a recovery from falling 1-0 behind to a Michael Wardrope goal for Glenafton to firstly draw level through a well-struck Danny Mitchell shot before second-half counters from twin stoppers Glen Mitchell and Chris Robertson secured a precious three-point haul.

Pollok extended their lead to 11 points atop the Super First Division pile with a narrow 3-2 win away to an Ardeer Thistle side reduced to 10 men by Scott Reid's dismissal on the half hour mark.

Lok's opportunist marksman David Winters twice fired them ahead only to be pegged back each time by Ross Stewart and Stephen Reid goals for the Ayrshiremen, who looked like escaping with a share of the spoils until stopper Paul Gallagher lashed the ball home at an 87th-minute corner kick.

And up to fourth top spot are Kilsyth Rangers, for whom Mark Duffy (pen), Joe Barclay, Stuart Livingstone and Nick Prentice were on target in a 4-2 home win against Yoker, whose scores were netted by Greg Maitland and Andy Rankin.