Peterhead held off a comeback from nine-man Dumbarton to win their first league game in eight with a 4-3 victory at Balmoor.
The Blue Toon raced into a 3-0 first-half lead, with Hamish Ritchie (two) and Russell McLean finding the net, before Paul Paton was sent off.
Ross MacLean got Dumbarton on the board in the second half and Eoghan Stokes made it nervy, before MacLean became the second Sons player dismissed.
Grant Savoury got Peterhead’s fourth but Carlo Pignatiello grabbed another for the away side in stoppage-time.
Jim McInally’s side move up to eighth ahead of Dumbarton, within a point of Alloa Athletic after their 1-1 draw with Cove Rangers.
Peterhead were without Aberdeen loanee Ryan Duncan, with his place taken by Ryan Duncan, and there was a start for new signing Shaun Want.
Kick-off at Balmoor was delayed by 20 minutes due to the need for a replacement linesman, with an appeal going round the stadium for someone to come forward.
The hold-up did not seem to affect the home side as they surged into a fourth-minute lead, with Ritchie turning home from Niah Payne’s cross.
By eight minutes they had doubled the advantage, with Ritchie this time the provider. His swirling corner picked out McLean on the edge of the six-yard box and his header went straight through Kieran Wright in the Dumbarton goal.
Ritchie came close to getting a second for himself shortly after as he glanced Flynn Duffy’s centre narrowly wide.
Conner Duthie ought to have reduced the deficit on 14 minutes when he seized on Andy McDonald’s error but he skewed his shot horribly wide.
Dumbarton were struggling massively against the wind in the north-east and a mistake from Wright nearly gifted Peterhead a third, with the goalkeeper recovering sufficiently to keep out Scott Brown’s long-range effort.
Brown had his next attempt blocked by Wright and Savoury curled the ball narrowly over, as the Blue Toon continued to dominate.
Savoury tried his luck again from a free-kick, rattling the crossbar from the edge of the box after he had been brought down.
The Sons’ woes were compounded when Paul Paton picked up a second yellow 10 minutes before the break for a foul on Ritchie.
Peterhead got the third just before the interval from a well-worked set-piece routine. Ritchie played his corner short to Andy McCarthy, who found Savoury and then Ritchie again to rattle in his second at the near post.
Half-time substitute Stokes came close to pulling one back for the visitors before Savoury did likewise at the other end.
Stuart Carswell drew a save from Brett Long and the slackness in Peterhead’s game set in, with Dumbarton enjoying far greater time in their opponents’ half despite being a man down.
They capitalised fully on another McDonald error on 65 minutes, as Ross MacLean latched onto the defender’s poor back-pass and slotted the ball past Long.
Payne forced Wright to save low at his near post and the Sons stopper was able to stop the rebound from Brown.
Wright then produced a superb double save to deny Payne and Savoury before Stokes smuggled in Joe McKee’s corner to cut the deficit to one.
But MacLean’s second booking for a foul on McDonald killed their comeback and Savoury finally got his goal with a well-placed finish.
Pignatiello turned in a late third through a crowded penalty area but the Blue Toon held on to claim the three points.
