WHEN, with this game in injury time, news filtered through that Stirling Albion had lost 3-2 to Ayr United, there was an eruption of relief from the mass ranks of Morton fans. Raucous celebration quickly followed.

Stirling's defeat confirmed Morton had finally escaped Division Two, and moreover are promoted as champions. After the perceived unfairness of their play-off defeat the previous season, this was an occasion to be savoured.

It ultimately mattered not that they were beaten by a Raith Rovers side who themselves secured a place in the play-offs.

And was that Arthur Montford with a tear in his eye as he walked to the Morton end after the final whistle?

But, as ever, Morton made it difficult for themselves to escape Scotland's third tier. Their large fan base deserves better, but the 2-0 defeat will be forgiven when the celebrations resume at home against Stranraer on Saturday.

"To be fair I thought Raith Rovers deservedly won the game," said Morton manager Jim McInally.

"We showed nerves when the finishing line was getting closer, and the players knew Ayr United were winning.

"Stirling Albion put us under intense pressure for most of the season and I thought we handled it well, so I can excuse the nerves."

Raith opened the gates of Stark's Park at 1.30pm to accommodate the host of visitors and with the home side also having a play-off place at stake, the crowd swelled to over 4,000.

We even had the sight of mounted police, surely not a feature of your run of the mill Division Two match, but both the horses and riders looked docile as the warm April sunshine kept both sets of supporters in a mellow mood.

Raith, since John McGlynn replaced another former Hearts stalwart, Craig Levein, have been inexorably moving up the table. There was no way they were going to roll over like Forfar had in conceding nine goals to the league leaders the previous week, and McInally was more aware of that than most.

The expected close encounter soon materialised, with Raith if anything enjoying the best of the first 20 minutes. By far the most enjoyable sight in the cat-and-mouse first half was that of Kirkcaldy's best known preacher laying hands on Morton's Chris Templeman.

The latter, who was born in the Fife town, is actually taller than the Rev Martin Andrews, but found himself on the wrong end of the Raith defender's robust aerial challenges every time there was such a ball to be won.

Only when he was being picked up by the smaller Kevin Fotheringham did Templeman succeed in getting a flick on.

This sideshow was just about all that was giving the crowd their money's worth when some celebrations started in the Morton stand.

Ayr United had opened the scoring against Stirling Albion, who needed to better Morton's result if the celebrations were to be thwarted.

The fare continued to be unappetising, with even Morton's Peter Weatherson and Paul McGowan, named as two of the candidates for the SPFA's Divsion Two player of the season award, unable to lift their side.

So deadlocked was the game, despite a couple of chances at either end, that most of the visiting fans were starting to take an ever-growing interest in the events at Somerset Park.

A Stirling equaliser before half time put the equation back where it had started, but then Ayr went ahead again and, some 20 minutes later, added a third.

As things stood, Albion needed to score three times without reply to make Morton bat again next week, but then Raith decided to make a statement and leave the visiting fans with, once again, their hearts in their mouths.

Just when it seemed a 0-0 draw would suit the purposes of both sides, Marco Pelosi took a corner on the left for McGlynn's side. The ball was flicked over Morton goalkeeper Paul Mathers' head by Denis McLaughlin, but although it hit the bar the rebound was dispatched by Todd Lumsden.

McInally's side were still reeling from this when they lost a second six minutes later. This time Steven Bonar shot at the Morton goal and it was just touched on the way by McLaughlin with Mathers beaten.

The scorer should have made it three shortly after when put through on the goalkeeper, but he delayed and the ball was cleared.

Then, with just enough time to snatch an equaliser, Stirling scored a second against Ayr and the remaining few minutes were purgatory for the Morton fans.

Then, blessed relief.

To their credit, the home fans added their congratulations as they toasted their own play-off place.