Gala Fairydean Rovers shocked top of the table Musselburgh Athletic in a thrilling Division 1 encounter and in doing so moved themselves further away from the bottom.

It was a thoroughly deserved victory from a display which was built on hard work and had the moments of quality to make the difference.

With none of the chasing pack in action Musselburgh keep hold of their first place, while Gala’s win takes them ahead of Cavalry Park and level on points with Bonnyrigg Rose in seventh.

After falling behind to an early Liam Millar goal Gala came out fighting and were 3-1 up by the break. Owen Renton scored two of them, including a well taken free kick, with Jamie Whitehead having levelled the scoring.

Musselburgh scored a free kick of their own through Ben Tracey, but Renton’s third pulled the home side away again. Things were made interesting near the end with Dominic McLagan making it 4-3 from the spot but Gala held out for a monumental win.

It had looked ominous when Millar pounced on five minutes after Rhys Tait had gotten a hand to Liam Demarco’s deep cross.

Many would expect a top of the table side to go on to dominate against second bottom, but Gala had not read the script.

After Tom Fowler had gone close with a header, Whitehead equalised on 12 minutes. High pressing forced a mistake in the away defence and Whitehead was left with a tap in.

Millar could have put Athletic back in front when he intercepted Tait’s pass out from goals but the keeper recovered to save with his feet.

The remainder of the half belonged to Gala with Renton putting them in control with a double.

Whitehead had hit the post after some good skill on 26 minutes before his team-mate hit the net four minutes later. Fraser Falconer tickled a pass through which Renton seized upon before rounding the keeper and rolling in.

Falconer was involved again for the third when he was pushed to win a free kick just outside the box. Renton stepped up and cleverly bent a side footer round the wall and in off the post.

Musselburgh had been kept at bay during the first half thanks to a strong defensive Gala unit. The back four of Fowler, Christian Temple, William Seeley and Keiran Clark were strong and they were ably supported by those in front of them.

But the East Lothian men took only six minutes at the start of the second half to pull one back and it was another sensational free kick. Only a brave man would pick a winner between Renton and Tracey’s efforts, with Tracey whipping his up and over the wall and then back down and past the dive of Tait.

That was almost in vain as Whitehead could have restored the two goal advantage. Renton slid a pass through and the forward set himself before firing into the side netting.

McLagan volleyed over at the other end after Tait’s kick from hands hit off his back. Tait then made a great save from Demarco’s shot and Euan Duff headed Kyle Kivlichan’s corner wide as Musselburgh stepped up their efforts to equalise.

But they were suckered after 59 minutes by the impressive Renton. He instigated the situation himself by winning the ball in a tackle before approaching the box with intent and placing a precise finish into the bottom corner.

Renton could easily have helped himself to a fourth, having one shot held and another beaten away by Mateusz Lenart.

Athletic were given the chance to get back into it when the referee must have spotted a push in the box and awarded a penalty. McLagan accepted that chance by sending the keeper the wrong way.

They had nine minutes to tie a dramatic match and were presented with a perfect chance to do so when the ball fell for Tracey at the back post. He was always stretching though and just could not stretch far enough as his scrambled effort went wide.