Ten-man Johnstone Burgh battled hard to earn a 2-1 victory, thanks to two goals from Ciaran Diver.

The home side had a big chance in the third minute of the match, when Aaron Mason played through Darren Christie, who tried to round Bon Accord keeper Sandy Thomson but Thomson did well, at full stretch, to prevent Christie rounding him and tapping into an empty net.

Following this, the visitors launched an attack of their own and Rico De Marco put in a low cross, which eluded everybody and hit the inside of the post. It looked as though Fraser Mullen might have cleared it off the line, but the referee and his assistant adjudged the ball to have crossed the line and the away side had the lead.

In the 10th minute, Shotts were on the attack again as they looked to build on their lead. Taylor Evans struck a low effort from just outside the box, but Luke Scullion got down to make the save at his near post and put it out for a corner.

10 minutes later, Burgh were coming back into the match and forced Sandy Thomson into a great double save. Christie hit an effort from 25 yards and Thomson did well to parry it away from goal then Mullen ran onto the rebound and tried to beat Thomson at his near post but the Bonny keeper made the save and giving Burgh a corner. Mullen took the corner short to Max Kerr, who took a touch then looked to bend his strike into the far post but Joshua Gracie got his head on it to make the block and Burgh had another corner. Mullen's inswinging corner was half-cleared to the edge of the box where Darren Christie picked it up and delicately chipped it back into the danger area, and Ciaran Diver rose the highest to head it in off the underside of the bar and bring Burgh level with his first goal since signing for us.

On 26 minutes, Burgh thought they should have had a penalty when a backpass got caught in standing water, allowing Stuart McCann to nip in front of the Shotts keeper. Sandy Thomson then barged into McCann, and Burgh appealed for a spot kick. The referee, however, stopped the match deeming this section of the pitch unplayable. Burgh manager Murdo MacKinnon and coach Greig Mitchell then entered the pitch with pitchforks to drain the standing water. After a four minute stoppage, the match resumed.

With half time approaching, a Burgh corner was headed goalwards by Stuart McCann, but his attempt was cleared. McCann then got onto the loose ball and crossed it back into the box. His cross found Danny O'Neill, but Thomson made the save.

In first half stoppage time, Christie should've given The Burgh the lead when a low cross from Diver found its way across the box to Christie at the back post. Christie took a touch to control it before shooting, with Thomson producing another good save to send the teams in level at half time.

With the weather getting worse, the referee extended half time by approximately 15 minutes to allow us to roll and fork the pitch and give the game a better chance of being completed.

Diver had a chance to give Burgh the lead shortly after half time when he chipped Thomson from the edge of the box, but he got too much on it and his attempt went over.

On 58 minutes Burgh were reduced to 10 men, when Malky McDonald was sent off for a second bookable offence. The resulting free kick saw Bon Accord with the ball in the net. Adam Hunter sent the ball into the box, where Barry Eley found the net with a side-foot volley but the assistant had raised his flag and the goal was ruled out.

With six minutes to play, Kyle Lafferty had the chance to win the match when he received Max Kerr's pass in acres of space. Lafferty got through on goal and put the ball onto his right foot but his strike was tame and Thomson made a comfortable save.

In the first minute of added time, Shotts came close to victory when Taylor Evans' shot was stopped on the line by Max Kerr. Scullion then cleared to set Burgh on the counter attack. His long drop-kick found Diver who brought it under control then played a lovely reverse throughball to Lafferty. Lafferty then knocked it past the advancing Thomson and squared it back to Diver who knocked it into the empty net to earn Burgh a hard-fought victory against a good Shotts side in difficult conditions.

Half Time: 1-1

Full Time: 2-1

Scorers: Diver (20), (90+2)

Starting XI (subs): Scullion, Mullen, Kerr, Cook, O'Neill, Esplin (C), Christie, McDonald, Diver, S McCann, Mason

Man Of The Match: Ciaran Diver

We must say a big thank you to everyone involved in ensuring that we played the whole match. Both teams for wanting the game to be played, Murdie & Greig for forking the pitch in the first half, Robbie & Jim for rolling and forking the pitch at half time, and referee Euan Birch for allowing us extra time to fork and roll the pitch. And, of course, a massive thank you to the fans for being the 12th man and cheering the boys to victory in miserable conditions.

We remain 3rd in the league, behind Troon on goal difference but we have two games in hand. Next week we're on the road as we head to Townhead Park to face Cumnock. We'll be running a supporters bus for this. To book your seat, contact Vic on 07826 850856.

A selection of images from today's match can be seen below. For more images, click here.