Substitute Kai Montagu was the Raith hero as the Kirkcaldy men came from behind to beat Airdrie and distance themselves from the drop-zone.

Diamonds boss Aaron Taylor-Sinclair made one change to the side which drew with Arbroath last weekend, Cole McKinnon returning to replace Dom Thomas, who was named on the bench alongside Craig Ross and Aaron Reid as the pair returned from injury lay-offs of differing lengths.

Josh Rae and Dylan Easton lined up for Rovers against their former side, with Callum Fordyce completing the trio of ex-Airdrie men after a long-term shoulder injury.

Lewis Vaughan had the chance to give his side a dream start, but his free-kick inside the first minute failed to breach the defensive wall.

After Scott Constable had seen off Easton with a strong tackle on seven minutes, the ball fell to Vaughan again four minutes later, and this time the frontman was denied by the width of the post as he steered his shot through a ruck of players.

Chris Mochrie and Euan Henderson had combined to devastating effect in the Diamonds’ last visit to Stark’s, and the pair linked up again on 14 minutes – but Henderson saw his strike blocked after good play from his team-mate.

Charlie McArthur tackled and Sean McGinty cleared as Raith got into the Airdrie box again through Innes Cameron in the 18th minute, and the on-loan forward fired wide four minutes later as Raith continued to enjoy the better of the first half chances.

The Diamonds did look dangerous on the break, and it took a strong hand from Rae to push out Mochrie’s curling strike after strong tackling from McKinnon in the middle.

Andy Winter was next to threaten for Raith, but his foray down the right wing was well defended by Adam Devine on the half-hour mark.

McArthur blocked from Vaughan on 36 minutes, and when the ball rebounded to the Raith man he fired over the bar.

A good defensive header prevented Jake Hastie’s effort reaching goal a minute later, and as play swept to the other end Cameron shot straight at Stone after Vaughan had prodded a pass through.

The final chance of the first half fell to Henderson, who powered forward in a fashion not unlike that which yielded an outstanding goal at the same venue in November. As Hastie matched his run, he opted once again to go for goal, but this time Rae was wise to it and made a good stop.

An injury to Vaughan on the stroke of half-time saw Montagu take to the field after the break, and it would be a fortuitous change for Dougie Imrie’s side.

Airdrie started the second half as they had finished the first, Rae’s hands warmed by Mochrie again as the Diamonds man tried to squeeze home at the near post two minutes after the restart.

Winter should have scored on 49 minutes, getting on the end of Lewis Stevenson’s cross but somehow missing the target as Stone scrambled across.

Airdrie took the lead five minutes later, Devine grabbing his first Diamonds goal as he burst into space as Henderson and Telfer passed their way through the home rearguard. The ball was squared to Airdrie’s makeshift left-back and he swept beyond Rae to delight the fans behind goal.

The Diamonds piled on the pressure after their opener, but their inability to add to their lead would prove costly as Rae denied Hastie on 57 minutes and Fordyce nodded out a dangerous McKinnon cross a minute later.

Constable nicked possession from Cameron as the Barrow loanee shaped to shoot on 60 minutes, but the striker had space to finish four minutes later as a contentious corner-kick fell to him two yards out. Airdrie’s protests that a goal-kick should have been awarded were unlikely to change referee Chris Graham’s mind.

There was chaos in the Diamonds box on 66 minutes as a cross cannoned off a Raith man’s back and fell perfectly for Montagu, who blazed over with Stone stranded.

The winger atoned for his error 11 minutes later, but there was even more controversy about Raith’s second, as the ball sat up for Montagu to finishi after bouncing off Fordyce’s arm.

Paul Nsio cleared after Henderson’s 79th-minute cutback failed to find a Diamond shirt, and the points were wrapped up with five minutes remaining.

As Airdrie pushed forward and gaps appeared at the back, there was space for a cross from the Raith right and space for Montagu to power home a header despite Stone’s touch.

Henderson’s deflected effort was gratefully gathered by Rae with two minutes of regulation time remaining, and the Diamonds were unable to make further inroads.

Ross County’s home draw means the Diamonds slip back to the foot of the table ahead of a free weekend. All eyes will be on the Dingwall side’s result against Partick Thistle on Friday ahead of the sides meeting at the Global Energy Stadium in a fortnight.