East Fife striker Barrie Moffat was the hero of the afternoon as his side denied Dumbarton their first home win by inflicting a 3-2 defeat on the home side.

He scored twice and set up the third goal on a treacherous Cliftonhill pitch that was rain-lashed for most of the first half.

Moffat took advantage of a long kick out by his keeper Willie McCulloch to steer the ball past John Hillcoat.

He struck again to double the Fifers' advantage, this time beating Dumbarton's offside trap to blast home Steve Kerrigan's pass.

Dumbarton skipper Toby King headed them back into contention just before the break, but Paul Mortimer re-established East Fife's two-goal lead after the interval, nodding home Moffat's fine cross. The Sons again clawed back the Fifers' lead when John Dillon cleverly lobbed the ball over McCulloch but the Sons could not find the net again to snatch a point.

Afterwards Dumbarton boss Jimmy Brown praised his side for their commitment. He said: "We worked well today and could have earned a point. To come back from 2-0 down and then from 3-1 down was a fine performance."

His opposite number Rab Shannon said: "I'm delighted with the victory. We were very positive and took the chances we made for ourselves. That is something we haven't been good at recently."

He picked out Moffat's performance and said: "He had a superb game. He's been free of injury this season and is looking very sharp."