Scott Brown’s Ayr United remain top and unbeaten after a penalty at Greenock Morton. Elsewhere, Falkirk’s outstanding forty- three- game unbeaten run in the league ends at the hands of Neill Collins’s Raith Rovers. Here is all the news from this week’s Scottish Championship.
Dunfermline Athletic 1 – 2 Queen’s Park
Dunfermline continue to struggle as they sit in the relegation play-off position on 4 points, tied with Airdrieonians – only ahead on goal difference. James McPake’s side lose for a second consecutive week, this time at home to Queen’s Park. The Spider’s went 1-0 up inside 15 minutes through Zak Rudden, bringing his league tally to 3 this season. Queen’s Park would have to wait until the second half to double their lead with a Sean Welsh header, from Cameron Kerr’s corner. The Pars would leave it too late with a consolation from Josh Cooper – 12 minutes before the 90. Queens Park now sit in 4th– 7 points behind the league leaders, Ayr.
Hamilton Academical 1 – 0 Partick Thistle
League favourite, Partick Thistle, continue to struggle as they lose 1-0 away to newly promoted Hamilton Academical. The Jags held the majority of possession (54%) but were not able to make the most of it. Terry Ablade, for Partick Thistle, was taken off early in the 32nd minute due to an injury and was replaced by Ben Stanway. Both teams went into the break 0-0 but it was not too long until Hamilton got their goal in the 56th minute through a Connor Smith corner, which was headed home by Lee Kilday. Partick Thistle manager, Kris Doolan, now sees his job under scrutiny from fans after a slow start to the season and being backed by the board to help build a formidable side on paper. Will Partick Thistle turn their season around and meet fan expectation?
Livingston 2 – 1 Airdrieonians
Livingston leave it late to win at home against bottom of the table Airdrieonians. Livingston continue to be unbeaten along with Ayr as they sit on 14 points with 2 games in hand on the league leaders. The first half saw an even affair with Livingston firing ahead in the 29th minute with Stephen Kelly. Only to be pinned back to 1-1 minutes later with Aaron Reid scoring for Airdrie in the 31st minute.  The game would remain that way until added time, when veteran Andrew Shinnie struck home from outside the box to secure the 3 points for Livingston. Rhys McCabe’s side now sit bottom after winning only their first league game this season. The bottom half of the table remains tight with 4 points separating 10th and 6th. Livingston sit firmly in 3rd – closing in on 2nd place Falkirk. Livingston manager, David Martindale, hopes to go straight back up to the premiership.
Ayr United 1 – 0 Greenock Morton
Ayr United played at home against Greenock Morton – who have also only one league win this season. Dougie Imrie’s Morton side kept the game to 0-0 through the first half and early into the second. It was only a penalty conceded by Jack Baird that put Morton’s chances in jeopardy. Jay Henderson strikes into the bottom left to put Ayr 1-0 up – ultimately winning them the game. Ayr remain the tyrants of this Championship season going unbeaten in their first 8 league games (5 wins, 3 draws) and being the most prolific scoring team in the league – Scott Brown has a team to be proud of. Can he keep it up and will they be stopped?
Raith Rovers 1 – 0 Falkirk
The biggest upset of the day comes with Neill Collins gaining his first win as Raith Rovers’ manager against the, at the time, unstoppable Falkirk. Raith’s goal came early-on with a penalty conceded by Liam Henderson which Raith’s Jack Hamilton was able to convert into his first goal of the season. The game remained relatively even throughout and John McGlynn’s triple change in the 66th-67th minute (Calvin Miller – on, Michael Mckenna – off, Aiden Nesbitt – on, Alfie Agyeman – off, Ryan Shanley – on, Finn Yeats – off) proved unsuccessful as Raith brought the 3 points to Stark’s Park. Falkirk now remain in 2nd and only 3 points from Ayr United, with 2 games in hand and a point in front of Livingston. McGlynn remains confident in his team, hoping to get back to their winning ways after todays loss and last week’s valiant effort against Celtic. Raith will hope to kick on after ending a forty- three-game unbeaten run in the league.
The league remains in it’s early stages, and we know from previous years that the table can flip, and struggling teams can find form. How long will Ayr United’s run last? Will they ever be beaten? Who will go down and who will be promoted? – all questions still to be answered with a long season ahead.
The current table sits:
1.Ayr United – 18 PTS
2.Falkirk – 15 PTS
3.Livingston – 14 PTS
4.Queen’s Park – 11 PTS
5.Hamilton Academical – 9 PTS
6.Partick Thistle – 8 PTS
7.Raith Rovers – 7 PTS
8.Greenock Morton – 6 PTS
9.Dunfermline Athletic – 4 PTS
10.Airdrieonians – 4 PTS
(Image credit: SNS Group)
