Arbroath fell further behind in the League One relegation battle after failing to gain anything against 10-man Ayr at Somerset Park
The hosts went ahead after just four minutes through Craig Malcolm’s strike but lost Michael Donald to a straight red card for a tackle on Bobby Linn.
It looked good for the Gayfield men when they drew level on 38 minutes when Kenny Deuchar notched his first goal for the club with a powerful header.
However, they enjoyed parity for just two minutes before the prolific Michael Moffat restored the Honest Men’s lead with what proved to be the winner.
Despite having an extra player, Arbroath struggled to create genuine chances throughout the second half and manager Paul Sheerin put it down to an off-day from his players.
He said: “I thought we were devoid of ideas and not really worth anything.
“It was the first time in a while to be fair to them but the timing isn’t great. We’ve been not bad in recent weeks but today we were and it’s really frustrating.”
Results didn’t go Arbroath’s way as rivals Airdrie and East Fife both won leaving the Red Lichties four points off the play-off spot and seven points off safety.
It won’t be an easy task for Sheerin’s men with only six matches left, including a visit from Rangers, but he hasn’t given up hope.
He added: “We need to try to pick up probably 12 points from our final games. We’ve not managed that all season but we need to knuckle down and try to achieve it because we obviously don’t want to be relegated.
“It’s something I’ve never had in my career and it’s not something I want.”
The player-manager did not absolve himself from criticism, adding: “I’m disappointed in the performance but I’m putting myself in there as well. I’m not offering enough so I need to take a long hard look at my playing situation.”