Ten-man Cove Rangers were held to a 1-1 draw by Montrose in an entertaining contest at the Balmoral Stadium.
All the goals came in the second half, with Rory McAllister’s opener cancelled out by a penalty from Graham Webster.
Cove midfielder Blair Yule was sent off in the closing stages but a draw was ultimately the deserved scoreline for both sides.
Paul Hartley recalled Iain Vigurs to the starting line-up after illness, while new signing Ola Adeyemo started the game on the bench.
The visitors started the day second in the table and in good form, however it was their goalkeeper Allan Fleming who started the game impressively.
Fraser Fyvie did superbly to bring down Connor Scully’s pass and turned inside his man, before drawing a smart one-handed save from the Montrose stopper.
The rebound broke to captain Mitch Megginson and Fleming was down quickly to turn the strike round the post.
Megginson tried his luck again in the 10th, however Fleming was there again to keep out the shot at the near post.
Montrose threatened through Webster and Paul Watson, who both had attempts over the bar, but they needed Matty Allan to intervene when Megginson’s centre looked to leave Robbie Leitch with a tap-in.
Webster had the ball in the net before the half-hour, however his header was chalked off for offside. The striker had another glorious opportunity to hit the target before the break but headed over after Craig Johnston picked him out.
After a goal-less first period it took less than three minutes of the second for the deadlock to be broken.
Megginson slipped through McAllister and with an ever-reducing angle, the veteran Cove striker crashed in off the underside of the crossbar.
Montrose got themselves back in the game just after the hour. Fyvie was punished by referee Matthew MacDermid for tangling with substitute Blair Lyons just inside the box, with Webster tucking the ball away from the spot.
MacDermid would draw the ire of Cove further with 15 minutes to go as he sent off Yule for a second yellow, after a seemingly innocuous challenge on Montrose defender Sean Dillon.
Cove were forced to defend for sustained periods late on but Scott Ross, who was in top form throughout, helped them hold on for a point.