BRECHIN City ripped Morton’s League One title hopes out of their own hands with a 2-0 win at Cappielow on Saturday.

It could prove a debilitating defeat for the Ton after rivals Stranraer and Forfar Athletic both claimed victories, at home to Ayr United and away to Stenhousemuir respectively.

The sequence of results saw Jim Duffy’s side slip to third for the first time in two months, four points behind Stevie Aitken’s league leaders and three behind the Loons, with four games left to play.

As a consequence, the Cappielow club are now in need of favours from other clubs even if they were to manage to win all of their remaining fixtures, including a trip to Stranraer on Saturday 25 April.

The Blues travel to Dunfermline next week and host Stenhousemuir and the Ton before finishing with a match away at Brechin.

Forfar’s run-in reads: Airdrie (home), Peterhead (away), Dunfermline (away), and Ayr United (home) — so it is far from a lost cause for Morton.

But it will realistically require them to win their matches against Stenhousemuir (home), Stirling Albion (away), Stranraer (away) and Peterhead (home).

And for a side whose best winning run stands at four consecutive victories in the league, it will entail reproducing that feat for only the second time this term.

The fact also remains that not only do they need the current league leaders to slip up twice in their final four games, they also require Dick Campbell’s experienced outfit to lose at least once.

Therefore, without writing them off, it is fair to say that the Ton find themselves facing a real uphill struggle to claim first place and avoid the play-offs.

The most perplexing part of all of this was that Saturday’s result was not one that appeared to be on the cards if recent form was anything to go by at least.

While Ton came into the meeting on a high having demolished Dunfermline 4-0 at East End Park the previous weekend, Ray McKinnon’s men had failed to win any of their last six matches.

Duffy selected the same starting XI that won so convincingly in Fife seven days earlier - just the second time this term the Ton have fielded identical line-ups in consecutive matches.

But the continuity didn’t prevent a nervy start, with tormenter in chief Bobby Barr firing off an early warning shot with a rising drive that Derek Gaston clutched at his top-right corner.

The hosts offered a quick response when Thomas O’Ware clipped a clever angled pass in behind the Brechin defence to pick out Declan McManus’ run.

Ton’s top scorer was onto the ball in a flash, arrowed in on goal and rifled off a shot which goalkeeper Graeme Smith did well to block and send spinning round the post.

The action was end to end, and Gaston was required to scramble across his line to claw clear Jamie Masson’s inswing corner and prevent it creeping in at the near post.

Greenock-born midfielder Craig Molloy looked keyed up for Cappielow clash, and he did superbly well to rob Ross Forbes of possession on the flank before driving in field.

The 28-year-old Brechin skipper pushed the ball on to Andy Jackson, who stung Gaston’s palms with a fierce rising drive that the Ton No1 beat down after proving too hot to hold.

O’Ware tested Smith with a similar effort at the opposite end less than a minute later after cutting inside onto his left foot.

While Ton had been threatening going forward they were by contrast looking nervy defensively, and Sean Crighton’s decision to attempt to clear from the bye-line almost proved costly.

Rather than let the ball run out for a goal-kick, the centre-half elected to fire the ball up the line and saw his attempt blocked and break for Robert Thomson.

The hitman took a touch before unleashing a rasping effort that Gaston did superbly will to tip over the top.

Keeper Gaston was finally beaten on 19 minutes when Barr fastened into Andy Jackson’s intelligent reverse pass inside Lee Kilday and fired into the roof of the net, but the winger was offside.

It was at this stage that the Cappielow club starting to get on top, and McManus drew the save of the match from Smith on 21 minutes.

Allowing Stefan McCluskey’s pass, which was almost a carbon copy of the O’Ware pass which released the Aberdeen loanee early on, to bounce once, he leaned to the side and smashed at goal.

It was a stunning, angled hit that seemed certain to bury itself on the inside netting at the left-hand post, but Smith propelled his body to the right and shot out an arm to make a sensational stop.

The former Rangers, Motherwell, and Hibs custodian produced more heroics shortly thereafter, arching back to acrobatically flip Peter MacDonald’s left-footed curler over the crossbar.

As the half drew to a close, McManus forced another fine block from Smith at his near post — but it was at this stage that referee Colin Steven began to take centre stage.

The whistler lost control of the game after he booked Andy Jackson for an alleged dive inside the box. From the press bench, it didn’t look a penalty but neither did it appear to be simulation.

It had been a keenly contested encounter before then — with the likes of Molloy and O’Ware in particular giving, and asking for, no quarter in the engine room – but now threatened to boil over.

Masson was cautioned for kicking out at Mark Russell and O’Ware followed him into the book for steaming in and backing up his team-mate.

Brechin striker Thomson replied with a wild swipe at O’Ware that bordered on a straight red but saw him pick up a yellow. Finally, Molloy was cautioned for a push on Russell to complete a seven-minute spell in which Steven had produced five bookings despite not having a handle on proceedings.

Bizarrely, he then failed to caution centre-half Gerry McLauchlan for a late tackle on McManus despite awarding the free-kick.

It proved what appeared to be a well-worked set-piece from which Ton almost opened the scoring when Forbes touched the ball to MacDonald, who in turn floated the ball into the mix.

O’Ware attacked the ball and sent a header looping towards the top-left corner. Smith, however, sailed to his right to make a sound catch that would have looked good for the cameras.

It was at this stage that both sides were forced to readjust after suffering injuries to key defenders.

Brechin replaced a crocked McLauchlan with Ewan McNeil. The former Ton trialist filled the right-back berth while Paul McLean moved in one to fill the vacant centre-back berth. For the Ton, Lamie came off worst after making a robust challenge and eventually hobbled off to be replaced by Jamie McCluskey, with O’Ware dropping into the middle of the back four.

The enforced changes seemed to affect the hosts more, and they proved less of an attacking threat in the second half.

Their only real opportunity in open play came on 70 minutes when MacDonald released Stefan McCluskey with a deft, first-time pass between two defenders.

The younger McCluskey sibling took a heavy touch and stabbed straight at the outrushing Smith, who blocked to make another key contribution.

As the Ton’s search for a goal became more desperate, so did their defending as Brechin threatened to pick them off on the counter.

Imposing targetman Thomson was proving a real handful right across the frontline, while Barr’s speed and trickery was always a threat down the left.

And it was the former Livingston man who landed the killer blow when he easily skipped past two men on his way into the box before going down under a Kilday challenge. In real time it appeared as though the Ton right-back could do little to get out the way, but on second viewing he does seem to hang out a leg.

Barr, right, took the kick and confidently fired past former Albion Rovers team-mate Gaston low to his right to give the Glebe Park side the lead.

The 26-year-old celebrated with glee right in front of the mainstand, rubbing it into a Ton support with whom he had exchanged verbal jousts over the course of the four fixtures this term.

Part of that is to do with the fact the talented wideman has tormented them on the park this season — and with Livi in the past – and he was fouled by Stefan McCluskey for a free-kick on 88 minutes.

Aberdeen loanee Masson stepped up and whipped the ball over the wall and inside the left-hand post. It was a superbly taken effort and one that put the game to bed.

For Ray McKinnon’s men it was a precious three points in their bid to fend off late stakes for fourth position and protect their play-off place.

Ton, meanwhile, require snookers to salvage any hope of topping the pile and avoid the prospect of potentially facing bogey side Brechin again in a two-legged, post-season promotion shoot-out.