Partick Thistle win as Raith and Dunfermline cancel each other out
Matchday 14 in the Championship: Partick edge clear at the top, Stenhousemuir lose again and Morton keep winning.
By Barrie Moran,
The round turned on two results at the top. Partick Thistle won 1-0 at Queen's Park, and the two sides behind them spent the weekend taking points off each other. Partick sit on 28. Raith Rovers and Dunfermline are level on 25 underneath them. A one-goal win at the bottom club is not a statement, but in a round where the chasers could only draw, it did not need to be.
A goalless draw that suited the leaders
Raith Rovers and Dunfermline drew 0-0, which is roughly what their recent defending suggested. Dunfermline have conceded two in their last five and are unbeaten across that run. Raith have let in three in theirs. Neither breached the other, and Raith stay second only on goal difference, 11 to Dunfermline's 8. My view is that this was the best result Partick could have asked for from a match they were not in. A winner here would have put pressure on the top spot. Instead, both sides stood still. If either of them starts turning these draws into wins, that changes. For now it is Partick's to lose.
Stenhousemuir's slide and Morton's surge
The wildest match of the round was Greenock Morton 4-3 Stenhousemuir, and it showed both clubs' form exactly. Morton have now won four in a row and scored 12 in their last five, the best recent run in the division. They are still ninth on 13, but they and Ayr United have played 13 while everyone else has played 14. The bottom half of the table looks rather different if Morton keep this up.
Stenhousemuir scored three away from home and still lost. That is four defeats on the bounce, with 12 goals conceded in their last five. They hold fourth on 23 with a goal difference of zero. That position looks more like what they banked earlier in the season than anything they are doing now. Livingston, fifth on 21, are the side best placed to take advantage.
Draws in the north, a reprieve in Angus
Livingston did not quite manage it. They drew 1-1 at Inverness. That stretches their unbeaten run to four, with only three conceded in their last five, but it was a chance to close on Stenhousemuir only partly taken. Inverness are sixth on 20 and have gone two without a win. Neither result moves the picture much.
Arbroath beat Ayr United 4-1, and that one matters. Arbroath's previous four results were all defeats, and their goal difference of minus 12 tells you how those went. A four-goal afternoon lifts them to 14 points, one behind Ayr, who are seventh on 15 with a match fewer played. Ayr's form reads like a coin toss, alternating wins and defeats, and this was a heavy defeat.
Queen's Park remain bottom on 7 after a fourth straight loss. To their credit, the leaders scored only once against them, but they did not score at all. A goal difference of minus 15 means the gap to the rest is not just about points.
Where it leaves the division
Partick are top and the two clubs who could catch them drew with each other. Stenhousemuir are falling and Morton are climbing. Arbroath have a pulse again. The one thing I would watch is Morton's games in hand. If they win those, the bottom half gets crowded very quickly.