Kurt Willoughby and Harry McHugh scored on their first starts for Ayr in a thrilling 4-3 win over Partick Thistle.

Nick McAllister gave the Honest Men a 15th-minute lead, following up after Mark McKenzie’s shot was blocked.

Brian Graham, the Championship’s leading scorer, levelled just past the half-hour mark but Oldham loanee Willoughby scored twice late in the first half to earn a 3-1 interval lead.

Thistle roared back in the second half to level again through Tomi Adeloye and Harry Milne, the latter with a cross that found its way straight in.

But McHugh joined Willoughby in scoring his first Ayr goal to settle a topsy-turvy win.

Dundee United suffered a stutter in their push for the cinch Championship title as Jim Goodwin’s men were beaten 2-0 by Airdrieonians at Tannadice Park.

After the Tangerines went close to taking the lead in the first half, with Glenn Middleton’s free-kick hitting the bar, they fell behind in the 59th minute when Gabby McGill headed in a Charlie Telfer cross.

Rhys McCabe’s side then wrapped things up via a Josh O’Connor finish in the fourth minute of time added on at the end.

Dundee United remain top of the table but on goal difference alone, with second-placed Raith joining them on 51 points after drawing 0-0 at home to Morton.

Billy McKay missed from the penalty spot as cinch Championship strugglers Inverness and Dunfermline played out a goalless draw at the Caledonian Stadium.

Caley captain McKay stepped up in the 18th minute after Paul Allan was judged to have fouled Cammy Kerr, but he was unable to get the better of Deniz Mehmet.

The visitors came close to nicking a lead of their own in the closing moments of the first half, Alex Jakubiak going past the keeper before seeing his shot cleared off the line by the retreating Danny Devine.

Devine had a chance at the other end but nodded wide and Dunfermline had a late opportunity to win it when Malachi Welch-Hayes’ header was palmed over by Mark Ridgers to leave both sides locked in the bottom three.

Raith Rovers missed the chance to move top of the cinch Championship following a goalless draw against Morton at Stark’s Park.

With Dundee United suffering a 2-0 home loss to Airdrie, Ian Murray’s side could have climbed to the summit outright but are instead behind the leaders on goal difference.

Morton, who extended their unbeaten run to 13 games, created the better of the chances, with Raith goalkeeper Kevin Dabrowski denying Robbie Muirhead, Alan Power, Grant Gillespie and Cameron Blues.

Jack Baird also twice headed wide for the visitors, while Sam Stanton had Raith’s only shot on target, his first-half effort being saved by Morton keeper Ryan Mullen.

Queen’s Park claimed an overdue home win by running riot in a 6-0 thumping of cinch Championship basement boys Arbroath.

The Spiders took the lead after only four minutes as Cillian Sheridan laid off the ball for Ruari Paton to finish into an empty net. Provider turned scorer on the 15-minute mark as Sheridan slotted in a Josh Scott cross for 2-0.

Sheridan snuck in behind the Arbroath defence and found Paton for an easy third and Queen’s Park continued to pummel the Smokies after half-time as Dom Thomas ran through to slot past Max Boruc.

By the 62nd minute it was 5-0 thanks to teenager Liam McLeish, who forced the goalkeeper into a mistake before walking the ball into an empty net, while substitute Stuart McKinstry completed the rout with a sixth five minutes from the end.

It was a 10th game without a win for Arbroath, who are now seven points adrift at the bottom of the table.

Raith Rovers claimed a 2-1 victory over Ayr to stay within a point of league leaders Dundee at the top of the cinch Championship.

Rovers striker Zak Rudden put them in good stead early on, netting after five minutes to give his side the advantage away at Somerset Park.

But the hosts responded and levelled in the 11th minute through Roy Syla.

However, Lewis Vaughan was the match-winner in the second minute of first-half stoppage time before Rovers showed resilience in the second half to protect their lead and to see out the victory.

Morton strengthened their cinch Championship play-off credentials with a 2-1 victory over Airdrieonians at Cappielow Park.

Two goals inside the opening 11 minutes helped the Ton extend their unbeaten league run to 12 games, winning for the eighth time in the process.

George Oakley opened the scoring in the ninth minute when he headed in Jai Quitongo’s cross and Michael Garrity lobbed over visiting goalkeeper Josh Rae moments later for his 12th goal of the season.

Quitongo headed against the bar early in the second half before Callum Fordyce pulled a goal back two minutes from time to deny Morton a fourth consecutive clean sheet.

Airdrieonians, just two points above second-bottom Inverness, have now lost back-to-back games and next head to leaders Dundee United on Tuesday night.

Arbroath were denied a first cinch Championship win in nine games as Cameron Harper’s last-gasp equaliser secured a 1-1 draw for fellow strugglers Inverness at Gayfield.

The Red Lichties – who remain bottom, six points adrift of Inverness with a game in hand – have only won one of their last 17 league games, the 2-1 success away to Caley Thistle in mid-December.

Chances were at a premium in the first half, with David Gold and Innes Murray going closest for Arbroath, while Inverness saw Cammy Kerr and Harper denied.

The hosts took the lead in the 82nd minute thanks to Adam Mackinnon’s close-range effort, but Harper struck in the fourth minute of added time to steal a vital point for Inverness.

Dundee United remain top of the Scottish Championship by a point after they came from behind to beat Queen’s Park 3-1.

Ruari Paton had put the struggling visitors on course for a shock win when his 17th goal of the season put them ahead 23 minutes in.

But Louis Moult’s brilliant free-kick got the home side level 13 minutes later and a Jordan Tillson header a minute before the half-time break turned the score around.

It took the home side until the 86th minute to put the game to bed, with Glenn Middleton finishing well from inside the box.

Dunfermline boosted their survival hopes as they ended a run of nine cinch Championship games without a victory with a 3-1 win over Partick Thistle at Firhill.

The result lifts them out of the relegation play-off place and makes it four games without a win for the play-off hunting Jags.

Brian Graham opened the scoring for Thistle with his 17th of the season as he headed home from close range after Luke McBeth had nodded the ball back into the danger area following a poor clearance.

Malachi Fagan-Walcott levelled from close range after 37 minutes when Ross Stewart failed to hold on to a shot from distance and Matty Todd put the Pars ahead when he beat the offside trap to dink the ball over Stewart.

The Jags had two goals controversially chalked off and Xavier Benjamin’s header from a corner ensured victory for the visitors.

Dunfermline missed the chance to move out of the bottom two of the cinch Championship as they were held to a draw at home to struggling Arbroath.

There was nothing to separate the division’s also-rans as Thomas O’Brien’s equaliser earned a 1-1 draw for the rock-bottom visitors.

Malachi Fagan-Walcott’s first Dunfermline goal opened the scoring as he headed home a Josh Edwards free-kick.

Arbroath, however, left East End Park with a share of the spoils courtesy of captain O’Brien’s cool second-half finish.

Partick Thistle came from behind twice to draw 3-3 with Inverness in a thrilling cinch Championship clash at Caledonian Stadium.

Inverness opened the scoring when Cammy Kerr hit the target from long-range and, with the pressure continuing to build on the visitors, they cracked for a second time when Remi Savage was on target from a corner in the 53rd minute.

Partick Thistle hit back with 26 minutes remaining when Aidan Fitzpatrick took advantage of a poorly cleared cross to stab home and then Brian Graham grabbed the equaliser from the penalty spot.

But there was still time for more twists when Nathan Shaw appeared to have snatched all three points for Inverness only for Graham to fire his second with four minutes left.

Inverness’ Max Anderson was shown a straight red card for a foul on Luke McBeth during injury-time.

Calum Ferrie came to Queen’s Park’s rescue with a string of fine saves in a goalless cinch Championship draw with Morton.

Ruari Paton twice went close for the hosts in the opening 20 minutes before Ferrie kept them in contention by keeping out two George Oakley attempts in quick successions.

The lively tempo continued as Jack Turner sent a promising shot over the crossbar, but it was Ferrie who was taking centre stage.

The keeper kept out Oakley once more and then denied Iain Wilson in the closing stages.

Anton Dowds hit a hat-trick as Ayr won 3-2 at Airdrie to move into the top-half of the cinch Championship.

The Partick loanee opened the scoring at Excelsior Stadium with just eight minutes on the clock, although the sides would go in level at the break as Cammy Ballantyne finished a free-flowing move.

Dowds tapped in his second of the afternoon from close-range having been played in by Jamie Murphy and completed his hat-trick by finishing off a quick free-kick.

That proved enough to secure the points for the Honest Men, although Airdrie did pull another back late on through Craig Watson’s effort.

Scott Brown struck a sensational late winner as second-placed Raith Rovers beat Dundee United 2-1 to cut the gap on the cinch Championship leaders to one point.

Raith came in to the game on the back of five straight defeats, three of them in the league.

But their strong start was rewarded after nine minutes when on-loan Dundee striker Zak Rudden turned home Liam Dick’s cross at the near post for his first Rovers goal.

The visitors grew in confidence as the half wore on and equalised after 39 minutes when Ross Graham met David Wotherspoon corner’s and Louis Moult helped it in from close range.

Raith claimed the points in spectacular fashion when Brown chested a ball down in the 89th minute and volleyed home his first goal of the season from 25 yards.