Scott Craig’s Diamonds side came back to haunt familiar foes at the Falkirk Stadium on a floodlit Halloween night.

Kaleb Donnachie was rewarded with a start after his battle to recover from an injury, meanwhile three trialists made the Airdrie bench with another in the starting lineup. Sean Dempsey featured in the squad after three weeks out with a calf knock.

The Bairns started the game with intent, launching an attack which was ended when Sam Gallagher cynically tugged the shirt of an opposition player – which earned him an early booking.

Falkirk would not have been thrilled at the sight of Stephen McKay, who scored and assisted against the side in a pre-season friendly – and the Diamonds playmaker almost created again in the ninth minute when he whipped a cross to Guy Bainbridge, whose header was saved in the end.

The referee had a decision to make when Ryan Hartie went down on the edge of the box under a Gallagher challenge, but Hartie was rightly booked for simulation.

McKay continued to cause problems for Falkirk, when his weaving run took him into the box where his effort was parried by the goalkeeper in the 22nd minute.

Hartie was lucky to stay on the park a minute later, when he went down easily again on the edge of Airdrie’s box. This time the referee remained lenient and kept his yellow card in his pocket.

The Bairns took the lead just after the half-hour mark, when a defence-splitting ball in behind was lashed across goal and tapped home by Kobe Mitchell.

Airdrie were only behind for three minutes – Kaleb Donnachie the scorer this time as he latched onto a good Bainbridge pass and cut inside, before stroking into the top corner for the equaliser.

David Ruddy put in an outstanding slide tackle seconds after the restart, thwarting a swift Falkirk attack as the Bairns looked to retake their lead.

McKay was hacked down on the right side of the pitch as he glided forward, prompting the referee to produce a yellow card for Aaron O’Donnell whilst Airdrie’s playmaker received treatment.

On the stroke of half time, McKay intelligently intercepted a pass from a Falkirk defender – and Kaine Bell helplessly hauled the midfielder to the ground in the box, forcing the referee to point to the spot and produce a red card for the Bairns’ centre-half.

Bainbridge was unable to replicate his recent form from 12 yards; this time he scuffed wide from the spot and Airdrie went into the break level with ten-man Falkirk.

The Diamonds started the second half with a flurry of attacks which saw Connor Hay denied by a last-ditch tackle and Bainbridge unable to cut back from a tight angle in the box.

Airdrie’s dominance paid off 49 minutes in, when Hay spotted an incisive McKay run and pinged the ball in behind. The Diamonds midfielder took the ball down and slammed home with conviction to give Airdrie the lead.

McKay’s eyes lit up a minute later when he intercepted another back-pass, but this time a Falkirk defender got across to block him in the nick of time.

A triple substitution on 55 minutes saw Donnachie, Gallagher and Cole McCafferty make way for new signing Aaron McDonald, Jack MacMillan and Trialist 18. A few minutes later, Hay and Trialist 7 also departed for Darryl McMutrie and Trialist 15.

The match turned cagey after the hour mark, but neither side could create a clear-cut chance until the Bairns went in behind and passed up the opportunity to equalise.

Kyzer Fealy thought he had found the net when his cross took a deflection and skimmed the crossbar on its way behind for a corner.

Airdrie made the set piece count, McKay turning provider as he whipped the ball onto the head of Trialist 15 – and the debutant powered home from a few yards out to give Airdrie some breathing room.

Airdrie’s confidence turned to nerves with eight minutes to go, when a ball broke to the edge of the box for Kobe Mitchell, who thumped into the bottom corner to reduce the deficit. In the aftermath, a scuffle in the box saw two quickfire bookings for Airdrie ‘keeper Lewis Lindsay. Due to problems registering Airdrie’s trialist goalkeeper as a substitute, defender Ruddy took the gloves for the closing stages.

Ruddy had his teammates to thank come the end of the match, as the final minutes played out without the stand-in stopper touching the ball. Excellent game management from Airdrie led by Stephen McKay saw the Diamonds hold out for a pivotal three points against the Bairns.

Airdrie will be without their usual goalkeeper, Lindsay, for next weekend’s fixture against Greenock Morton – but the Diamonds will go into the match full of confidence as they look to continue climbing the table.