Led by the best player on the park player-manager Paul Sheerin it was difficult to appreciate that Arbroath shoulder the rest of the league.
If they can continue in this form they are entitled to believe they can escape relegation at the end of the season though.
The visitors took the lead at Ochilview in the 29th minute when Paul McManus rifled home from close range after a scramble in the home box, but parity was restored eight minutes from the interval when on-loan Inverness striker Ben Greenhalgh fired low into the net from 20 yards to mark his home debut.
Bryan Hodge hit the upright after the break for Stenhousemuir and a cheeky chip from Sheerin shortly after deserved a better fate than to come back off the bar.
The Lichties regained the lead in 71 minutes, though. Alan Cook’s run and cross down the right left Bobby Linn with a close-range tap-in but, with the Warriors seeking a play-off place, an excellent contest was always on the edge.
Both sides had strong penalty claims turned down by referee John Beaton as each went for broke, but when Sean Higgins glanced a header off a Josh Watt’s cross, only the most biased would argue that a point apiece was fair.
“I did think it was a good shout,” Sheerin said. “It would have put us 3-1 up at the time, but listen, they had a good case as well and I don’t want to go there.
“I can’t ask much more from the team than I got today, but it’s the way the second half of the season has gone for us.
“We have been putting in decent performances without maybe getting the results, but we are well capable of escaping relegation and I told the players that if they perform as they did today we can still do it.”