Dumbarton went down to their third consecutive home defeat as a dramatic late goal burst by the Blues saw them take all three points south.
A draw had seemed on the cards but the game turned on a late moment of controversy. Sons defender James McKinstry was adjudged to have fouled David Graham inside the box and, after McKinstry had been red-carded, Graham Guy hammered his spot-kick high into the net.
The result was given an even more surreal look minutes from time when Graham broke free to beat the advancing Stephen Grindlay before upsetting a large number of the home supporters with his celebrations.
Stranraer got off to an ideal start when Graham and Allan Jenkins tore open the Dumbarton defence and set up Kevin Finlayson to score with the easiest of chances from eight yards.
The Sons eventually got back into things and Andy Rodgers and a dipping Craig McEwan volley came closing to levelling things, but it wasn't until three minutes after the re-start that they brought parity to the scoreline.
On-loan Graham Holmes threaded a superb pass through the Blues' back line and Eddie Annand latched onto the ball before scoring his fourth goal in two games.
Rodgers then twice found himself in the clear but he failed to take either chance while, at the other end, Grindlay produced a great save to turn away a low drive by Finlayson before doing well to turn over the resultant, swirling, corner-kick.
Just as the points seemed sure to be shared, Stranraer's late strikes sent their fans home happy.