Queen of South narrowly beat 10-man Alloa Athletic to move to within two points of third-place Rangers in the Scottish Championship.
Kevin Holt's second-half header proved to be enough to extend Alloa's winless run to 12 games.
Wasps goalkeeper Craig McDowall twice denied Queens' Derek Lyle as Queens struggled to break down a stuffy Alloa side.
The visitors almost levelled when Isaac Layne's effort was cleared off the line before Kyle Benedictus was dismissed for two bookable offences.
A vital win for Queens which keeps them in the play-off mix. They coped well against an uncomprimising Alloa side who offered very little up front but defended well.
Images courtesy of Colin Johnstone and his team at Palmy
Queen of the South
- 01 Clark
- 05 Durnan
- 04 Dowie
- 06 Higgins
- 12 Kidd
- 07 Burns (Millar - 62' )
- 18 McShane Booked
- 03 Holt Booked
- 15 Paton (Carmichael - 74' )
- 10 Reilly (Russell - 35' )
- 19 Lyle
Substitutes
- 02 Mitchell
- 08 Millar
- 11 Russell
- 14 McKenna
- 17 Carmichael
- 20 Atkinson
- 22 Hooper
Alloa Athletic
- 21 McDowall
- 17 Doyle
- 15 Marr (Rutherford - 86' )
- 14 Benedictus Dismissed after an earlier booking
- 05 Meggatt
- 07 Cawley
- 10 Holmes
- 19 Buchanan (Spence - 82' )
- 03 Docherty
- 29 Roberts (Jahraldo-Martin - 75' )
- 26 Layne
Substitutes
- 01 Gibson
- 02 Tiffoney
- 09 Spence
- 11 Ferns
- 18 Hetherington
- 27 Jahraldo-Martin
- 28 Rutherford
Ref: Craig Charleston
Att: 1,673