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.

Dundee United were unable to find the breakthrough against struggling Queen’s Park as their Scottish Championship clash ended goalless at Hampden Park.

United had a chance when Kevin Holt’s header was blocked on the line before Jordan Tillson’s strike was saved by Queen’s Park goalkeeper Calum Ferrie.

Tony Watt had a great opportunity to put the visitors ahead from close range but was unable to find the net and Ferrie was called into action again to save Louis Moult’s effort.

The result sees second-placed United remain five points behind leaders Raith, while the Spiders stay bottom of the table.

Ross Millen came back to haunt former club Queen’s Park with a late winner as 10-man Raith edged a topsy-turvy 3-2 Scottish Championship match at Hampden Park.

Lewis Vaughan broke the deadlock for the visitors six minutes before the break as he slotted Aidan Connolly’s assist into the bottom corner.

Just after the hour mark, Euan Murray was sent off for Raith for a foul on Ruari Paton.

With 20 minutes remaining, Queen’s Park made their advantage count as they equalised through Jack Turner’s fifth goal of the season in all competitions and – four minutes later – the hosts turned things around thanks to Paton’s close-range strike.

But Raith hit back with two late goals from Jack Hamilton and former Spiders defender Millen to steal maximum points.

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.

Kerr McInroy scored twice as Partick Thistle secured a first win of the season with a 3-1 victory at home to Queen’s Park.

Partick scored twice in four first-half minutes to seemingly put them in control.

McInroy opened the scoring after 26 minutes from a Steven Lawless pass and Brian Graham doubled their advantage on the half-hour, with Lawless again the provider.

But the goal glut continued as Queen’s Park pulled one back 60 seconds later through Ruari Paton’s shot.

Thistle restored their two-goal cushion in the 57th minute when McInroy collected the ball and lifted a neat finish over the goalkeeper for his second of the game to secure the points.

Dominic Thomas and Tom Robson helped Queen’s Park start their cinch Championship campaign on a winning note as they edged out Inverness 2-1.

Caley Thistle started brightly as Nathan Shaw saw an effort saved while Charlie Fox’s last-gasp tackle stopped Charlie Gilmour going through on goal, but the visitors went ahead after 31 minutes when Thomas latched on to Barry Hepburn’s pass and fired beyond Mark Ridgers.

Robson doubled Queen’s Park’s lead three minutes after the restart as he caught Inverness’ defence napping before sliding an effort underneath Ridgers.

Jake Davidson rose highest to head home Cameron Harper’s corner four minutes from time but it proved to be a consolation as Inverness suffered defeat in their first outing of the season.

Owen Coyle urged his Queen’s Park side to grasp their chance to reach the top flight with a cinch Championship shoot-out win over Dundee on Friday night.

The Glasgow side, who are ground sharing with Stenhousemuir while Lesser Hampden is being revamped, are two points behind the Tayside outfit at the top of the table with the title and an automatic place in the cinch Premiership up for grabs in the final fixture.

In what promises to be one of the most exciting finales to the Championship campaign as nine teams still have something to play for, Queen’s Park, Scotland’s oldest senior club, are looking for a remarkable third successive promotion.

Boss Coyle, on their official Twitter account, said: “We are full of excitement. Looking forward to an unbelievable night. A chance to be champions of the Championship.

“Given the journey we have been on, to be given the opportunity to take Queen’s Park into the Premiership, I think at the start of the season we would have done somersaults for that opportunity.

“If someone said in the last game of the season you would be at your home from home with the chance to win the game and go into the Premiership as champions, of course we would have grasped that.

“What we have to do is deliver on that and that needs a big performance, one that we are more than capable of.

“I am pretty sure the lads are as excited as I am about the game.”

Coyle concedes that having to win the game against Dundee makes the task straightforward.

The former Burnley, Bolton and Ross County manager said: “We know we have to win. Obviously Dundee are at the top of the league at the moment.

“They know they can afford a draw and be champions.

“That itself probably sets you in a quandary while we know we have to win the game so that is our mind-set, to go and win the game against a good side, good players, big squad, a Premiership club, as we know.

“But what we have to do is show that we want to be that Premiership club and we have 90/95 minutes to do that.

“We need to be at our best. We have shown that when we are at our best we win games.

“We have won more games than any other team in this league up to this point because we play to win games. That is why the game on Friday suits us.

“We go all out to win games, we commit players forward and look to have that creativity that we have been known for to create the chances to ultimately scores goals because we will have to score to win the game.”

Promotion play-off spots are still to be confirmed with two points between third-placed Partick Thistle and Morton in sixth spot.

Thistle, who are two points behind Queen’s Park, travel to Raith Rovers, the only club with nothing to play for in terms of either going up or going down.

Scottish Cup finalists Inverness host Ayr United and Morton travel to second-bottom Cove Rangers who have the chance to move out of the relegation play-off spot.

Bottom side Hamilton, who are one point behind Cove, take on Arbroath at Gayfield knowing they need to get at least a point to avoid automatic relegation.