Grant Savoury was Peterhead’s two-goal hero in a crucial 3-0 League One win over Clyde at Broadwood.
It is a result which means the Blue Toon head to ninth-placed Dumbarton – four points and one place below them – next weekend looking both down and up the table.
Savoury’s double and a fine Hamish Ritchie strike may not have completely shaken off the Sons and the threat of relegation. However, a second successive win for Jim McInally’s side has also taken them to within two points of Clyde a place above them in seventh.
Savoury said: “It is about time we got a result like this. We have been playing well and not getting the results our football has deserved.
“However, at this final stage of the season, we are now scoring the goals we deserve.”
The former Celtic youth went close on eight minutes when he ran on to Andrew McCarthy’s pass and forced Joshua Bradley-Hurst into a low save.
Seven minutes later, the home goalkeeper was beaten when Savoury played a one-two with Niah Payne before firing a bouncing shot into the net.
Peterhead were almost pegged back in bizarre fashion on 28 minutes when a tackle from Clyde’s Sam Jamieson 18 yards out sent the ball looping over Brett Long. The Blue Toon keeper was able to palm the ball off his line only to see it drop to Jamieson, who looked set to net until Long stuck out a foot to block.
A break from Ritchie on 31 minutes was halted with a pass-back that Bradley-Hurst was forced to pick up, but Scott Brown’s shot from the resulting indirect free-kick was blocked by a sea of Clyde jerseys.
Brown went close with a 25-yard effort early in the second half, but a second goal did arrive on 55 minutes when McCarthy picked out Ritchie, who cut in in from the right and curled a left-foot shot high into the far corner.
It was game-over on 63 minutes when substitute Owen Cairns crossed and Savoury looped in a header from 12 yards.
Savoury added: “I surprised myself with the header. I saw the ball coming in and I noticed their defender was in no-man’s land. I thought, if I attacked it, I may get something. Luckily enough, I got there before the goalkeeper and it went in.”
A win in their next outing would create a seven-point gap to the Sons, with Savoury saying: “We have hit a bit of form, so we can look positively at it.”
Manager McInally is also encouraging positivity from his players as the season ticks down, saying: “Every team is under pressure, but we played well and deserved the win.
“I am pleased for Grant, but I am pleased that the players were rewarded for continuing to play in the right manner.
“I know Dumbarton also won, but we have a chance of catching Clyde now and that is how we should be looking at it.
“It would be great to pull them in.”