There was a lot of frantic play in the early stages of the game with both teams having chances.
Stenhousemuir almost opened the scoring in the 5th minute when John Baird had an effort cleared off the line after Nugent parried a cross into his path.
The Shire had the ball in the net a couple of minutes later when Paul Tweedie fired into the net but a raised flag for offside curtailed the celebrations.
In a pulsating opening period David Templeton had an effort cleared off the line and then he fed John Paul McBride with a superb through ball but the midfielder missed the opportunity with a weak lob straight into the keeper's hands.
Templeton then struck the post in the fifteen minute as the pressure continued. The Shire held on however and looked the more likely team to score as the first half progressed.
Stenhousemuir however caught the opposition napping at the start of the second half and took the lead within a minute of the restart when Templeton latched onto a rebound after Nugent could only block a John Bard effort and Templeton dispatched the ball into the net.
In the 63rd minute another McBride free kick ended in a goal when Kevin McLeish headed home after the Shire defence failed to pick up his run.
The Shire almost scored after 70 minutes when a Marc McKenzie free kick was flicked on by Tweedie and McCulloch spilled the shot and Gary Wild blasted the rebound over.