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.

Partick Thistle made up ground on the Scottish Championship leaders after thrashing struggling Arbroath 4-0.

Third-placed Partick were ahead after 12 minutes through striker Brian Graham, who latched on to a ball from Aaron Muirhead and rounded goalkeeper Derek Gaston before slotting home.

Graham had a great chance to double Partick’s lead after 41 minutes but was well denied one-on-one by Gaston.

The hosts did get their second six minutes after the break as Aidan Fitzpatrick fired past Gaston from inside the area.

Tomi Adeloye ended Arbroath’s resistance with two goals in as many minutes in the closing stages, firing in a first-time strike for his opener before latching on to Harry Milne’s pass and finishing smartly.

The visitors are bottom of the table after extending their winless run to four matches.

Partick Thistle condemned basement club Morton to their third straight cinch Championship defeat after edging to a 2-1 victory at Firhill Stadium.

The hosts got off to a rapid start when Kerr McInroy fired in from the edge of the area in the third minute.

Morton were level in the 32nd minute through Grant Gillespie’s spot-kick after former Scotland international Kirk Broadfoot was felled in the penalty area.

Veteran Thistle striker Brian Graham, who was already on yellow card when he was substituted off in the 72nd minute, was dismissed two minutes later despite not being on the field.

But the home side claimed all three points through Blair Alston’s strike with 13 minutes remaining to secure successive league wins.

Queen’s Park saw their winless Championship streak extended to eight games following a topsy-turvy 2-2 draw at home to Partick Thistle.

The hosts dominated the majority of the first-half possession but could not break the deadlock with efforts from Lewis Reid and Dom Thomas kept out before Alex Bannon headed wide, while the Spiders had a goal ruled out for a foul on Thistle goalkeeper Jamie Sneddon.

At the other end, Brian Graham and Kerr McInroy both tested Calum Ferrie before Louis Longridge conceded a penalty – on the stoke of half-time – which Steven Lawless converted to put the visitors ahead.

Queen’s Park equalised seven minutes into the second half as Ruari Paton fired home a spot-kick of his own, awarded following a foul from Ola Williams on Jack Turner.

Four minutes later, Turner picked out the top corner to hand the home side the lead, but they were pegged back on-loan Swindon striker Tomi Adeloye moments later as the spoils were shared.

Partick Thistle cruised to a 4-0 win at Ayr to go second in the Scottish Championship.

Steven Lawless’ brace along with goals from Brian Graham and Tomi Adeloye eased the visitors to a comfortable victory.

Graham’s close-range finish from Kerr McInroy’s pass opened the scoring after 73 seconds and the visitors never looked back.

They doubled their lead 11 minutes after the break when Lawless drilled in from 25 yards.

He made it 3-0 after 67 minutes when his deflected shot from the edge of the area found a way past Charlie Albinson.

Lawless then turned provider for Adeloye with 11 minutes left when the former Ayr man scored with his first touch.

Two goals in the final seven minutes saw Raith rescue an unlikely point in a 2-2 Scottish Championship draw at Partick Thistle.

The hosts looked to have the points sewn up by the interval as Jack McMillan put them ahead in just the fifth minute, when he converted the rebound after Kerr McInroy’s shot hit the crossbar.

Aidan Fitzpatrick added a second on the stroke of half-time when he fired home from McInroy’s cross.

Raith left it late and began their comeback in the 83rd minute when Dylan Easton fired home.

Anton Dowds then hit the post for Thistle – which could have wrapped up the win – but instead, Kieran Mitchell’s 89th-minute equaliser proved decisive as Rovers left with a point on the opening day.

Ross County have signed midfielder Kyle Turner on a two-year contract.

The 25-year-old has moved from Partick Thistle after being part of the Jags side that lost to County in the cinch Premiership play-off final.

County manager Malky Mackay said: “Kyle is an exciting young player who was named in the Championship Team of the Year last season.

“I am delighted to bring him to Dingwall and he will be a fantastic addition to our squad.”

Partick Thistle have lost another three key players who took them to within a missed penalty of a return to the cinch Premiership and saw one of them quickly join a Championship rival.

The club confirmed that captain Ross Docherty, fellow midfielder Kyle Turner and defender Kevin Holt had chosen to leave the club.

Dundee United later announced the signing of Docherty on a two-year deal.

The triple blow follows forward Scott Tiffoney’s departure to Dundee days after Thistle’s play-off defeat against Ross County.

Thistle manager Kris Doolan told the club’s official website: “We made the best offers we could to keep Ross, Kevin and Kyle at the club, however there has been strong interest elsewhere, understandably so given recent performances.

“They – and Scott Tiffoney – have each chosen to pursue opportunities beyond Firhill which is their right and they leave with my very best wishes having served the club so well.

“I can assure fans I have been working around the clock over the past two weeks on securing deals with players who want to play for Partick Thistle next season and we will be able to begin announcing some of those this week.

“The response from Jags fans over the past fortnight or so has been nothing short of remarkable, in particular season ticket sales, which is a huge boost and makes me even more proud to be Partick Thistle manager.”

The club added that discussions remained ongoing with other players whose contracts have expired.

United manager Jim Goodwin expressed his delight with the signing of 30-year-old central midfielder Docherty.

“Last season, Ross was one of the outstanding midfielders in the Championship and his consistent level of performances with Partick Thistle caught our eye,” Goodwin told his club’s website.

“He is exactly the type of player required to succeed in this league – he’s very comfortable both with and without the ball, very fit and brings additional experience to the squad.

“I have no doubt he will fit in seamlessly with the group of players we are building together ahead of an exciting season.”

Ross County came from three goals down against Partick Thistle to retain their cinch Premiership status with a sudden-death penalty shoot-out victory following an epic play-off final.

Aidan Fitzpatrick put Thistle three ahead on aggregate two minutes before half-time in the second leg in Dingwall and they were in control until the 71st minute when Yan Dhanda’s penalty and Simon Murray’s close-range finish turned the game on its head inside 80 seconds.

County completed their comeback just after the 90-minute mark when George Harmon netted to send the game into extra time.

There were chances and VAR controversy throughout and the penalty shoot-out was just as dramatic as the game before Josh Sims finally settled matters three hours after kick-off to seal a 5-4 shoot-out victory.

Malky Mackay’s side extended their four-year stay in the top flight while Thistle, who went down through the play-offs in 2018 and have been to League One and back to the Championship since, will eventually find encouragement from their form under Kris Doolan once their shock subsides.

It was only a second defeat in 19 games under their manager, who suffered the loss of his father during a play-off campaign which saw Thistle win five matches and score 19 goals.

County made four changes, two of them enforced through suspension, as Ben Purrington came in for his first start since suffering a serious ankle injury in October. Doolan named the same team for a fifth game in a row.

County’s only real first-half pressure came courtesy of Thistle goalkeeper David Mitchell failing to deal with two high balls, Purrington seeing a header cleared off the line after the second blunder.

The home side survived a lengthy VAR review after Greg Aitken called referee Nick Walsh to his monitor after Ross Docherty went down under Nohan Kenneh’s challenge as he ran into the box. Walsh had a long look while County boss Mackay told him “it’s a dive”, and the referee decided against awarding the penalty despite definite contact.

The visitors soon took the lead after Tiffoney reacted quickest to a loose ball and drove it across the box. Fitzpatrick took a touch as David Cancola dived in, and the Thistle wide man reversed a finish past Ross Laidlaw.

The noisy visiting fans chanted “Thistle are back” and Alex Samuel missed an excellent chance to give the home support hope just after the break following a slip in the Jags defence. Mitchell made a good stop and a grounded Aaron Muirhead completed the clearance.

Thistle looked comfortable and Connor Randall cleared off the line from Steven Lawless as they looked to put the game out of sight.

But the complexion of the tie was transformed with 19 minutes of the 90 remaining when Aitken alerted Walsh to the ball hitting Graham’s arm in the Thistle box and Dhanda converted the resulting spot-kick.

Thistle then conceded a throw-in from the restart and Samuel capitalised on some hesitation from Darren Brownlie and drove in a cross which substitute Murray converted.

Jordan White and Brian Graham missed chances at either end before more VAR drama when County captain Keith Watson was shown a straight red card for hacking down Tiffoney from behind as the forward was about to thread a team-mate through. Walsh downgraded to a yellow after being called to the monitor.

The fourth official signalled for nine minutes of stoppage time just as Dhanda crossed for substitute Harmon to volley in off the post to make it 3-3 on aggregate. A VAR check for offside prolonged the tension.

There were further opportunities at either end and Murray missed a glorious chance with the last kick of normal time when he volleyed over from seven yards.

Samuel headed against the bar but Thistle had the better of extra time and Stuart Bannigan blazed over the best chance after being set up by Graham inside the six-yard box.

The shoot-out was just as tense.

Kevin Holt and Jack Baldwin saw penalties saved for either team before Harmon’s pressure kick took it into sudden death. Bannigan hit the post before Watson blazed over, and Laidlaw saved from Docherty before Sims netted to spark a pitch invasion from the home fans.

Kyle Turner revealed Kris Doolan targeted cinch Premiership football immediately upon becoming Partick Thistle boss as the Jags stand on the brink of a return to the top flight.

Doolan stepped up from his role as under-18 coach in February to take over, initially on a temporary basis, from Ian McCall and the turnaround in form since has taken the Maryhill side all the way to the play-off final.

The Jags are 2-0 up from Thursday’s first leg against Ross County – the victory extending their unbeaten run to 11 games – with the return game taking place in Dingwall on Sunday.

Thistle are the first team to finish fourth in the second tier to go all the way to the play-off final – during that run Doolan had to cope with the death of his father Lawrence – and they are looking to make more history by completing the job against the Staggies.

Malky Mackay’s side played most of the game in Glasgow with 10 men after 16-year-old defender Dylan Smith was sent off in the first half for denying Aidan Fitzpatrick an obvious goalscoring opportunity and midfielder Turner is hoping Doolan’s ambition is soon fulfilled.

The 25-year-old said: “The gaffer has been brilliant. He has had a hard time in the last few weeks and it has been tough for him.

“But when he came those were his first words, ‘let’s try to get to the Premiership’.

“He constantly goes on about it in the changing room, that we want to be looking up the way and how we want to get there.

“It is the top league in Scotland and he instilled a belief in us that we can do this and so far so good.

“Since the gaffer has come in we have a siege mentality and we keep going to see what happens.

“In five play-off games we have scored 18 goals and conceded three, so the gaffer has installed a belief in us. He wants us to be free and go and play our own game and it has worked so far.

“We were disappointed this season and we should have been challenging in the final games but we slipped up a few times and we weren’t happy with that.

“We finished fourth and we had to play six games in the play-offs. We felt the worst we should have finished was second.

“When we got past Queen’s Park, then the belief started to grow. We know Sunday will be tough and County will throw everything at us so we have to be ready.”

Turner believes the margin of victory over the Staggies, who finished 11th in the Premiership, could have been greater.

The former Stranraer and Dunfermline player said: “I thought we put on a good performance. We were actually disappointed we didn’t score more goals to be honest.

“We had a lot of chances in the second half but County defended well and they threw bodies in front of the ball to make it hard for us.

“If someone had said to us we would win 2-0 then we would have been happy.

“But the way the game went with them down to 10 men, with the chances we created, on another day we would have scored more. But overall though we are delighted with the win.”

Kris Doolan insists Partick Thistle will go for goals again in their cinch Premiership play-off final second leg after their 2-0 win over 10-man Ross County at Firhill.

Jags winger Aidan Fitzpatrick opened the scoring in the ninth minute before 16-year-old Staggies defender Dylan Smith was sent off by referee David Munro eight minutes later for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity, after the official upgraded a yellow card to red following the intervention of the VAR Andrew Dallas.

Striker Brian Graham volleyed in a second for the Championship outfit just before the break to give them the advantage for the return game in Dingwall.

Boss Doolan said: “It was a brilliant win for us – but it could have been more.

“If you’d offered us 2-0 before the game, we would obviously have taken your hand off. But it could have been more. To me, it maybe should have been more.

“Part of that is down to Ross County defending well and throwing their bodies on the line.

“Their goalie also made a good save at the end to tip one on to the bar. If we had managed to get a third, it might well have been a different game.

“But we know it’s not over. There’s still another game to be played on Sunday. We only have one way of playing – and we will go out and look to do the same in Dingwall.

“We know that if we can go there and win the game, we will be back in the Premiership.”

Staggies boss Malky Mackay was happy to leave Glasgow only two goals down and retains belief for the second leg.

He said: “We started fairly brightly and created a couple of half chances.

“But we lost a bad goal. It was a great strike from Fitzpatrick but poor defending from our lads that were out facing it.

“I thought we were doing okay at that point but then we lost young Dylan.

“He’s a great kid and has been terrific in his first season as a pro but in retrospect he’s nicked the boy and it was a sending off.

“That obviously gives us a mountain to climb.

“We then lose the goal just before half-time and when I got the boys back inside, I said to them the challenge was to make sure we come out here no worse than two-down.

“I didn’t want us to sink in to our own penalty box as that would have just been carnage. So to see us threaten them a few times was what I needed.

“Second half I was really proud of them and at only two-down, there is plenty to play for on Sunday.”

Partick Thistle are in the box seat for a return to the cinch Premiership following their 2-0 play-off final first leg win over 10-man Ross County at Firhill.

Jags winger Aidan Fitzpatrick opened the scoring in the ninth minute with a terrific strike before 16-year-old Staggies defender Dylan Smith was sent off by referee David Munro eight minutes later for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity, after the official upgraded a yellow card to red following the intervention of the VAR Andrew Dallas.

In front of 7,291 fans, Thistle’s 35-year-old striker Brian Graham volleyed in a second for the Championship outfit just before the break to take his season tally to 21 and the home side could and should have scored more against a team a man down for most of the game.

However, Kris Doolan’s inventive side – now unbeaten in 11 games – will travel to Dingwall for the second leg on Sunday, buoyed with confidence while Malky Mackay’s men must dig deep if they are to retain their top-flight status.

Thistle, the first club to reach a Premiership play-off final after finishing fourth in the second tier, exploded into the game.

Winger Steve Lawless’s drive after skipping past Smith was saved by Staggies keeper Ross Laidlaw for a corner which he held.

However, the home side were soon ahead.

Fitzpatrick took a crossfield pass from Lawless, nipped in between Victor Loturi and Owura Edwards and from 16 yards curled the ball past Laidlaw into the far corner of the net before taking the acclaim of the fans.

More drama followed.

Smith was initially booked by Munro for fouling Fitzpatrick on the edge of the box as he attempted to race through on goal.

However, after going off to check the pitch side monitor – VAR was in operation for the first time at Firhill – the referee returned to flash a red and the visitors were down to 10 men, with defender Keith Watson immediately coming on for striker Alex Samuel before skipper Ross Docherty lifted the free-kick well over the bar.

In the 34th minute Graham connected with a Kyle Turner corner but Laidlaw was down smartly to save.

County edged forward as often as they could but they appeared susceptible to losing a second, with Graham thundering a drive over from the edge of the box.

The former Ross County and Dundee United forward was much more accurate from another Turner corner, volleying in from 12 yards to send the Glasgow side into the break on a high.

Ben Purrington replaced George Harmon, who had been booked, for the start of the second half as the Dingwall side looked to keep themselves in the tie but within minutes Thistle’s Kevin Holt had volleyed over the Staggies crossbar from eight yards.

Thistle then swarmed all over the visitors and should have added to their lead.

Graham had a goal-bound drive blocked for a corner by centre-back Jack Randall before Scott Tiffoney also saw his effort from inside the box hit County defender Connor Randall and then Laidlaw somehow kept out a close-range header from Graham.

County hinted at a threat occasionally and in the 64th minute Jags defender Aaron Muirhead brilliantly blocked a shot from Staggies forward Jordan White.

The  Dingwall side pushed for a lifeline which never arrived, the home side finishing in control with substitute Danny Mullen cracking the bar with a powerful drive and they will surely travel to Dingwall on Sunday more in belief than hope.

Jack McMillan dropped down a division when he signed for Partick Thistle to get more game time and become a better player, but his goal was always to put that improvement to use back in Scotland’s top flight.

The 25-year-old has already achieved the first part of the plan he made when he left Livingston last summer, his performances in the cinch Premiership play-offs so far being evidence of that.

The right-back has scored three of Thistle’s 16 goals in their four matches to date, the latest a header against Ayr in his 50th appearance of the season.

This week he gets the chance to complete the other half of his target when Thistle take on Ross County for a place in the top division.

McMillan said: “I enjoyed my four years at Livingston, it was a great time, but my reason for leaving was to get more game time and play regularly.

“I have managed to do that this season – this will be my 51st start in a row.

“But I would like to get back up to the top division and continue to learn and improve.

“I feel I have improved massively. You can only improve from the games that you play and to play 50 this year is incredible. Touch wood, I have not had any niggles or injuries so far.

“I have hit numbers attacking-wise, I set targets and I have exceeded them.”

McMillan’s move was the second time he went one step back to go two steps forward, having left Motherwell in January 2018 after playing 16 games for the Lanarkshire club.

He was quickly back in the Premiership after helping Livi to play-off success which relegated Thistle in the process, and he sees major similarities in the situation he finds himself now.

“In my time at Livingston, the group were very, very tight,” he said. “You probably saw that on the park. It’s very similar traits to this dressing room as well.

“When we came up with Livingston, we would have beaten anybody. It was that kind of mood that we were in. We had a great season. We were tipped for relegation that season so to go up through the play-offs was massive.”

Thistle have lost just once in 17 matches since Kris Doolan took over as manager three months ago.

McMillan said: “The momentum has been there for a while, maybe since the new manager came in.

“He has tweaked a few things, especially formation, and that has helped the players, especially the two full-backs, myself and Holty (Kevin Holt). It has helped us go forward and play that free-flowing football that we have been doing.”

Partick Thistle manager Kris Doolan has welcomed the return of Stuart Bannigan to add even more experience to his confident side ahead of their play-off final against Ross County.

The 30-year-old midfielder suffered a calf strain in the first half of Thistle’s quarter-final first-leg win over Queen’s Park, while Cammy Smith is also set to return after missing the semi-final games against Ayr with a groin issue.

The Jags have scored 16 goals in the cinch Premiership play-offs so far and Doolan has backed his players to handle the occasion ahead of Thursday’s first leg at Firhill.

“Stuart is back training now which is brilliant,” he said. “A guy like Stuart Bannigan coming back in lifts a team even more, as if they needed anything else to lift them. Even just to see him in training again… the boys got a wee spring in their step.

“He is such a big player for us and it’s great to see him back there leading within a group. I see a lot of leaders in the team and Stuart is one of them.

“You need that type of experience at this stage and it rubs off on the younger ones. They learn how to carry themselves, not to get carried away, not to get flustered and to enjoy it, embrace it.

“The play-off games are notoriously frantic and you have to understand how to handle that, but we have a lot of seasoned professionals, guys who have been through these type of games before, have played in the Premiership and top end of the Championship.

“We have good players who can handle the pressure. That’s shown in the four games we have had, we have not only scraped through the games, we have come flying through the games.”

Thistle have had a week to prepare for both legs against Ayr and will go into Thursday’s game with two more days of rest than County.

“I feel as if we are in the best shape we can be in,” Doolan said. “I think the boys have learned a lot about dealing with the play-offs, we have had four games under that pressure and scored 16 goals.

“To handle that type of pressure in the play-offs is a big feather in the cap of those players because I have been in the flipside of it. I have been in the Premiership side coming into the play-offs off the back of a season where you are used to losing games, and it becomes really difficult to turn a team round who have such good momentum.

“The four games we have had have been a great learning curve but also made us get stronger.

“If you are winning games, you don’t feel tired, you don’t feel sluggish. Our boys are desperate to play and they are full of energy.

“The confidence we have, we don’t come into these games fearful. We will be understanding of how difficult it is, we will give respect to Ross County because they are the Premiership side, but we play to win in every game and I see that mentality day in, day out.”

Brian Graham struck a second-half double as Partick Thistle took a major step towards the cinch Premiership play-off final with a 3-0 first-leg victory over Ayr at Firhill.

Graham had other chances following Jack McMillan’s 16th-minute opener as a dominant Thistle continued their impressive form under Kris Doolan in front of a 7,012 crowd.

The Jags have now only lost once in 16 matches since their former striker succeeded Ian McCall and have netted 11 goals in the play-offs so far.

The 2,000 fans in the sold-out visiting section got a shock before kick-off when top goalscorer Dipo Akinyemi was missing from the team lists, apparently with a back injury.

The striker has played in every other game for Ayr this season and hit 24 goals.

Manager Lee Bullen brought in Mark McKenzie, whose fifth goal of the campaign sent Ayr into second place in the Championship in the final moments of the regular campaign at Inverness.

Ayr made a bright start and Chris Maguire saw his well-struck first-time effort from 25 yards acrobatically saved by David Mitchell.

Scott Tiffoney forced a decent stop from Charlie Albinson at the other end and Thistle got on top before taking the lead. Steven Lawless threaded a ball through for McMillan who had sneaked behind the home defence before rifling a shot through Charlie Albinson.

Thistle continued to dominate with their creative players producing some excellent touches, and they should have been further ahead by the break with Graham missing two open goals, although both times the ball flashed at him quickly.

The experienced striker volleyed the first chance wide from outside the box with Albinson stranded after coming out of his box to head a long ball up into the air. Graham then missed from close range following Aidan Fitzpatrick’s driven cross.

The striker, who hit his 50th Thistle goal in the quarter-finals, then saw a header drift wide.

Ayr rarely got forward in the first half following their early pressure but Josh Mullin had a couple of half-chances, heading over before having a shot blocked.

The Jags maintained their dominance after the interval. Fitzpatrick hit the bar from long range before Graham converted from close range in the 50th minute after Tiffoney had played the ball across the face of goal. There was a hint of offside but no flag came.

The hosts continued to create chances. Kyle Turner curled wide from 18 yards and Fitzpatrick blazed over from an excellent opportunity.

Ayr defender Frankie Musonda saw a header blocked in the goalmouth before Thistle patiently worked the ball forward on the break and extended their lead in the 72nd minute as Graham finished first time from six yards following Fitzpatrick’s curling delivery.

Ayr threatened to snatch a late lifeline. Mitchell got down well to make an excellent one-handed stop from Ben Dempsey before substitute Paul Smith hit the bar with a 20-yard free-kick. Thistle went straight up the park and Albinson pulled off a diving stop to prevent Danny Mullen making it 4-0 with the final kick.