Airdrie were left fuming as Dunfermline took the points in a match defined by two major refereeing decisions.

A reshuffle to the Diamonds defence saw Dylan MacDonald return as Flynn Duffy dropped to the bench, which Ben Wilson replaced Cooper in the only other change to the starting line-up from last week’s defeat at Falkirk.

A fairly open start to the match saw the sides trade half-chances, MacDonald ending a promising second-minute move by Kieran Ngwenya and Joe Chalmers, with Kyle Benedictus nicking the ball off Lewis McGregor a minute later.

Ngwenya saw a shot blocked and cleared after five minutes, and Kieran Wright then did well to block a goalbound Chris Kane effort.

As the game began to descend into scrappiness, Wilson broke clear on 19 minutes, firing a low ball across the area which was hacked behind as McGregor rushed in to apply the finishing touch.

Luke Badley-Morgan almost grabbed his first Airdrie goal a minute later, stinging Tobi Oluwayemi’s palms with a fizzing half-volley after a Diamonds corner was only partially cleared.

Airdrie’s first penalty claim came on 21 minutes, but as Adam Frizzell made the most of a slight contact in the box, the referee booked the Airdrie captain for simulation.

Wright held Kane’s 24th-minute overhead kick, with Badley-Morgan defending well as McCann threatened to break in from the right.

Left-back Ngwenya was looking like Dunfermline’s most likely candidate for grabbing an opener, two shots around the half-hour mark just missing the target.

Oluwayemi and Wright were both equal to attempts in the last ten minutes of the half, the Pars on-loan Celtic keeper saving from McGregor before Airdrie’s Rangers loanee held a Matthew Todd effort.

McGregor had the last chance of the half for the Diamonds, sending a low effort agonisingly wide after good work by Frizzell.

Two early second-half chances fell the way of Kane Ritchie-Hosler, the Dunfermline midfielder drawing a good save from Wright on 47 minutes before hooking McCann’s cross wide of the post two minutes later.

Airdrie then took control of the match, Lewis McGrattan instrumental as the Diamonds created a number of chances.

The midfielder chipped just wide of the top corner on 50 minutes, before feeding McGregor to cross for Frizzell with Oluwayemi gathering as the skipper failed to get the ball under control.

McGrattan’s 56th-minute run allowed Gavin Gallagher to cross, with Ewan Otoo heading clear then blocking from Frizzell as the ball was worked back in.

Gallagher sent a shot wide of the post and Wilson struck the wall with a dangerous free-kick on the hour mark, but all of the Diamonds’ pressure was undone a minute later as McCann opened the scoring.

Armstrong was pulled to the ground as he attempted to play in McGregor, with Otoo intercepting. Amidst Airdrie’s disbelief that no foul was awarded, Ngwenya’s ball over the top found McCann, whose touch put him in a footrace with Craig Watson. Reaching the ball first, the striker’s lofted finish beat Wright and nestled in the net.

Dunfermline sub Dapo Mebude headed wide on 70 minutes after a good run by Aaron Comrie, but the Diamonds were once again on the wrong end of a refereeing decision a minute later.

McGrattan slipped in substitute Cammy Cooper, who had his heels clipped by Chris Hamilton and was sent tumbling over the diving body of Oluwayemi. To the astonishment of the Airdrie players and the fans behind the goal, no penalty was awarded by Mr Steven, who was perfectly placed to see the incident.

A number of substitutions and injuries to Dunfermline players disrupted the remainder of the match, and the visitors’ fury was compounded when a late attack was halted to allow treatment with the drop ball awarded to the home side.

A late Sam Graham header skewed wide of the target, and the Diamonds were left to face another defeat, though on this occasion rightly feeling hard done by.