Airdrieonians3–2Dumbarton

S Jordan Allan applied the merest of touches to the ball to win this game for Airdrieonians, there was some sort of epitome about it all.

Dumbarton had the opportunity there in front of them, to keep the battle against finishing in cinch League One's bottom two for another week, just when all had seemed lost at an early stage.

Within 30 minutes, Airdrie led 2-0 through goals by Dylan Easton and Calum Gallagher. A long afternoon looked ahead.

But no sooner had Sons realised the lifeline they had through George Stanger's header than they had another one, when their former employee Adam Frizzell was sent off.

In a fast start to the second half, an equaliser looked imminent - and it came, albeit through the home side's Rhys McCabe heading past his own goalkeeper.

However, chances had already been squandered, and more of them passed Dumbarton by. With Airdrie in the last chance saloon themselves, the two teams threw everything forward.

And it was Allan who posted the game's decisive moment with the simplest of finishes after the ball was played across the visiting goal.

Dumbarton's season will now extend by at least a week, going through the playoffs as the ninth-placed side for the third season in four when the playoffs have taken place.

They lost the first set in 2018, they won the second three years later. It is a brave gambler who predicts which way these ones will go, with three hungry cinch League Two sides lying in wait.

Although Airdrie massively dominated possession early on, clearcut chances were at a premium. The closest they got was when Easton hit the bar with a shot on the turn.

But a goal for the home side always looked imminent and it was the same player who got it. Easton found the net with a driven shot, for the third time this season against the club he used to play for, under the manager he now plays for.

Within a few minutes it was 2-0 after a passback did not quite work out as planned. Gallagher had virtually an empty goal to aim at when the ball broke to him and he was not going to miss.

Efforts were made to reduce the deficit, with Ross MacLean forcing a smart save from the home keeper.

But the ball did find the net from the resulting corner, Stanger rising highest to power home a header.

If that wasn't game on, what followed a couple of minutes later was. Frizzell's poor challenge on his ex-colleague Stuart Carswell saw him walking and Sons' hopes revived again.

An equaliser could have come right on half time, but Carlo Pignatiello's shot crept agonisingly wide. This was going to become familiar.

Seven minutes into the second half, Carswell came even closer, but his shot rolled against the post and rebounded away.

The pressure continued, but it took some unfortunate intervention by McCabe for the equaliser to arrive, with the home player glancing a header into his own net from a cross from the right.

Soon afterwards, Kristoffer Syvertsen made space on the edge of the area, only for his shot to have the same result as Pignatiello's earlier effort.

After all the chances, there was some inevitability about what happened with two minutes left. Airdrie broke upfield, looking to keep their title chase going at least another week, and when the ball went across goal, Allan could not miss.

In terms of the league finish, the difference between a draw and a defeat was negligible. With results elsewhere, a draw would have left Dumbarton needing crazy results in the last two weeks of the season to avoid ninth.