Punters would have got long odds on basement club Strathspey coming out of this one on top given the Mechanics impressive home league record.
The Can-Cans have only lost twice in almost 30 months, but with the wind at their backs it took the visitors just six minutes to take the lead.
Craig Rothney was brought down just inside the Forres half out on the left and that allowed Fraser Tulloch to deliver a long teasing ball into the area.
Despite the plethora of players in chocolate and gold, it was Matty Bobrowski who rose to win the header.
He played the ball back across the goal where Joe Hardie arrived on cue to nod the ball into the back of the net from six yards out.
This rattled the Mechanics, but while they looked to press forward and dominate in the way that has seen them run out comfortable winners against the likes of Cove, Deveronvale and, most recently, Lossiemouth, they were to find the Jags to be a tougher opponent.
The hard work of Ross and Hardie in the middle combined with some stout defending saw Forres limited to a handful of half chances.
When they were able to get a shot on goal, Willie Ridgers proved equal to the task.
He grasped a Neil Whyte effort that was one of only two shots on target from the Mechanics in the first half.
At the other end the endeavour of Bobrowski kept the Forres defence on their toes but, despite having the wind advantage Strathspey were unable to press home keeper Stuart Knight into action.
At the break, it remained 1-0 to the Jags but with the wind growing in strength the 15 minute interval was merely a prequel to a period of sustained pressure as the league leaders looked to preserve their position at the top of the table.
Ridgers made a brilliant fingertip save to prevent centre back Nathan Sharp squaring matters with a header from a Simon Allan corner.
But there was nothing the keeper could do about the leveller which arrived 11 minutes into the second half.
A direct drive into the box from Kevin Duguid was halted by the determined defence, but the ball bounced into the path of Garry Tweedie, one of the most lethal first time finishers from the edge of the box in the league.
He duly drilled a shot low into the bottom right hand corner of the net.
The pressure on the Strathspey defence intensified but they manfully held firm.
Forres sub Matty Davidson made an instant impact and broke through the Strathspey Thistle defence to go one-on-one with the keeper, but Ridgers stood up well and made the save.
The keeper was at it again to spectacularly deny Tweedie a second after the striker rose to head a Graham Fraser cross towards the corner of the net.
Graeme Grant was also venturing forward to try and find the breakthrough, and when his shot was blocked Neil Whyte cracked a follow up effort off the top of the crossbar.
However, just when it seemed that the visitors' luck would hold, Forres grabbed a second goal. Sub Matthew Davidson played the ball into the path of Neil Whyte and he rattled the ball past Ridgers before celebrating with an intensity which showed just how tough the Jags had made it on them.
With little more than 12 minutes left on the clock, there was always the hope that one last chance would fall the way of Thistle, but, unfortunately, it was not to be as Forres continued to press for a killer third goal.
