Strathspey Thistle stormed back from 2-0 down to beat Fort William 7-3 in a thrilling midweek basement battle in the Highland League.
It’s a result which opens up an eight-point gap between these two rivals and offers much-needed relief for the Jags, who rise above Turriff United.
A header from Blessings Tshibikubula and a Darren Brew penalty had Fort 2-0 up after 23 minutes, despite the front-foot start from Thistle.
On the stroke of half-time, Strathspey’s efforts were rewarded through an own goal.
Kris Duncan levelled the scores early in the second half after Andrew Skinner missed from the spot then James McShane’s header made it 3-2 in a remarkable turnaround.
Lisle’s weaving run and finish increased the lead, but Fort netted again through Robbie Foster.
McShane’s superb long-range free-kick took it to 5-3 and Craig MacKenzie and Rothes loan forward Kane Davies completed the scoring.
The hosts, with one victory from their opening 10 fixtures and six straight losses in all competitions, were seeking to strike back from a sore 7-0 defeat at leaders Fraserburgh on September 25.
Hours before kick-off, Thistle took in Rothes defender Ewan Neil and striker Davies on loan from Rothes.
Neil made his debut from the start, with the others promoted to the starting 11 being Robert Donaldson, Craig MacKenzie and Jake Thomson.
The rock-bottom West Highlanders arrived at Seafield Park seven days on from Calum Maclean taking over the helm at the club for the fifth time, on an interim basis on this occasion.
He replaced Ashley Hollyer and got an immediate response with an impressive 3-3 draw at Nairn County for their first point of the season, but they went down 3-1 at Wick Academy at the weekend.
There was just one change for Fort as Ruairidh MacDonald replaced Robbie Foster.
The first opportunity of note fell to Strathspey’s Kieran Chalmers, who shot over the top after a neat passing move.
The drizzle soon turned to downpours and Cameron Lisle tested visiting keeper Ryan Hunter, who got down smartly to save it.
The opener arrived on 18 minutes when Tshibikubula rose to crash home a header from a Joseph Owusu-Barnieh corner.
The celebrations were loud from winless Fort and the volume increased four minutes later after the Claggan side won a spot-kick when MacDonald was tripped. Brew was ice-cool to double the advantage.
Wayward finishing and fine goalkeeping from Hunter kept Strathspey out until an own goal offered some hope.
Andrew Skinner missed a penalty for Jags early in the second half when he blazed over the top, but it was 2-2 moments later when Duncan was on hand to convert from a Chalmers assist.
The game turned on its head when skipper McShane headed Strathspey ahead on 55 minutes although there were suggestions of a Bradley Fangas final touch then Lisle’s mazy run took him past Hunter as he tapped in a fourth.
Fort pulled one back through Foster from six yards but a McShane free-kick flew high into the net to make it 5-3 and MacKenzie’s deflected shot and a goal from Rothes’ loanee Davies rounded it all off.
Strathspey head north to face champions Brora Rangers on Saturday, while Fort William travel to Inverness to tackle Clach.