TEENAGER John O'Neill had a more selfish objective, such as trying to

establish himself in the Queen's Park first team, but a more significant

outcome of his goal on Saturday against Brechin City was that it opened

up the second division promotion race.

The striker raced through the Brechin defence and rounded the keeper

with a calmness that belied his tender years, and that proved to be the

only goal of the game. Queen's had keeper Jim Chalmers to thank for a

string of excellent saves and the defence generally did a fine job to

hold out against the division's second-placed club and former leaders

for most of this season. The home side's task was made all the more

difficult when Jim Kavanagh was sent off with 18 minutes left for a

professional foul on Paul McLaren.

The result at Hampden allowed Clyde to open some daylight between

themselves and Brechin. Alex Smith's team eventually won 4-0 at home to

Albion Rovers but had to wait until four minutes into the second half

before Frank McGarvey put them ahead with a drive.

Despite Clyde's pressure, the points were not made safe until a flurry

in the final 10 minutes. The Bully Wee have a queue of fellows who can

score from free kicks and it was Steve Morrison's turn to do so for the

second goal. Jamie McCarron added another and John Mitchell tapped in

No.4.

Stranraer did not fully cash in on Brechin's defeat. For the second

week running Stranraer led 2-0 and 3-1 only to end up with a 3-3 draw.

Billy Ferguson and Tommy Sloan had them two up after only four minutes

and Mike Hendry's goal for Alloa just after the break reduced the

deficit for only three minutes before Graham Duncan added a third for

the home side. But Barrie Moffat's two great strikes meant that

Stranraer had to settle for their fifteenth draw of the season.

All the other games finished 2-0, with Berwick's win at Forfar

probably killing off the home side's promotion chances. Berwick shrugged

off the previous week's 6-0 hammering at Arbroath with two goals in the

closing 13 minutes of their return to Angus, Willie Irvine stabbing home

a loose ball before Craig Gunningham nutmegged the keeper. Forfar now

have successive visits to Brechin and Clyde, who have to meet on the

final Saturday at Hamilton, but even two wins for Tommy Campbell's team

may not be enough.

A Steve Craib free kick and Colin Maver's run and shot from halfway

gave Montrose their first win this year and their second this term over

Arbroath. Two Dougie Mills clearances set up Darren Henderson's lob and

Andy Thomson's shot to give Queen of the South victory over East Fife,

and Stenhousemuir made better use of the wind to defeat local rivals

East Stirlingshire through an own goal by Brian Ross and a Miller

Mathieson strike.