Arbroath booked their place in the play-offs with a narrow victory over a battling East Stirling.
The home side made a perfect start and opened the scoring after eight minutes thanks to a Matthew Carr blunder when he spilled a Gavin Swankie shot and Jay Stein slammed the ball into an empty net.
The home side should have doubled their lead after 28 minutes when they were awarded a penalty after Andy Reilly was brought to ground in the box by Scott Livingstone. However, Carr made up for his earlier mistake, making a great save to deny Swankie from 12 yards.
The home side did not have to wait long to see their side increase the lead when, after 30 minutes, Robbie Raeside slammed home a low drive from 15 yards after Shire had failed to clear their lines.
The home side continued to dominate and created several chances before half- time, but Carr made a great save to deny Stein and a Swankie shot was cleared off the line by Livingstone just moments later.
The visitors improved dramatically after the break and began to get in behind Arbroath's nervy-looking defenders.
They pulled one back in the 66th minute when a Jamie Mackay free-kick dropped over the head of Neil Inglis to Jordan Smith, who directed the ball into the net with an impressive header.
Arbroath began to re-discover their composure and the news filtered through from elsewhere that even if East Stirling were to draw level, Arbroath's place in the play-offs was already assured.