Kallum Higginbotham’s late penalty gave cinch Scottish League Two leaders Kelty Hearts a 1-0 win over bottom club Cowdenbeath.

The Blue Brazil came into the Fife derby full of confidence having won their last two games to close the gap on fellow strugglers Elgin.

Cowdenbeath goalkeeper Cammy Gill saved well from Nathan Austin’s header as the visitors went into the break on level terms and David Carty then saw an early second-half header drop narrowly wide.

Just when it seemed Cowdenbeath would leave with a hard-earned point, substitute Maksym Kucheriavyi was fouled in the box – and Higginbotham made no mistake with the resulting spot-kick in the 82nd minute.