AYR United boss Scott Brown hailed his team for showing "resilience" as they staved off a late fightback at the weekend.
The Honest Men were 3-2 winners away to Dunfermline Athletic on Saturday as the Somerset Park side tightened their grip on the final Scottish Championship play-off spot.
It was a match which United took control of early, with Mark McKenzie notching the opener after just five minutes.
Anton Dowds then headed home his first league goal of the season midway through the half to double Ayr's advantage.
Brown's men looked to have all three points in the bag when Leon King hammered in his first senior career goal on the stroke of half-time.
However, a Kieran Ngwenya double for the Pars shortly after the hour mark made for a nervy end before the visitors held on to see out the victory.
“I thought the lads, in the first half, were exceptional. That’s what won us the game," Brown told Ayr United TV.
“The all-round play, in the first half, was exceptional. The goals were brilliant.
“The last goal, just before half-time, is the one that really gets us the three points. Overall, performance levels were really good.”
The United boss admitted that both goals conceded in the second period were avoidable.
He added: “The first goal, Liam [Russell] should do better. It’s not a great cross in the box, it just loops up and over and he’s not strong enough.
“The second one is a clear and obvious foul. The lad’s in there and he’s struggling to breathe, and the ref says it’s not a foul.
“He’s collapsed and dived on top of him, so I’m not sure how any of the referees and linesmen managed not to see that.”
However, Brown was full of praise for the fight shown by his side to avoid dropping any points in Fife and relinquishing a lead for the second consecutive week.
He continued: “The second half performance was resilience. The lads could have thrown the towel in, especially after last week.
“They had that belief, they had that determination. It shows you that we’ve got great quality, we are down to the bare bones in the squad.
“The lads have got a couple of days off to try and rest and recover now but we keep going, we keep fighting and January can’t come quick enough.”
Ayr are now set for their final game of the year on Saturday, December 27, as they travel to take on Greenock Morton.
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