Partick stay top as Stenhousemuir's win papers over the cracks
Partick Thistle edged Inverness, Stenhousemuir ended a losing run, and Livingston kept the tightest defence in the Championship's top half ticking over.
By Barrie Moran,
Every side in the top five who played on Saturday won, bar one, and that one was Raith Rovers. Their 3-1 defeat at Ayr United was the result that mattered most in MatchDay 15. It did nothing to change who leads the Scottish Championship, but it loosened Raith's grip on a place near the top that was already looking shaky.
Partick Thistle hold on at the top
Partick Thistle beat Inverness 3-2, which is their second win in a row and leaves them top on 31 points with a goal difference of 12. Nobody else is close on that second figure. It was not a tidy afternoon, mind. Inverness scored twice at the leaders, and Partick have conceded six across their last five. Inverness, sixth on 20, are now without a win in three after winning the two before that.
Stenhousemuir's second place does not match their form
Stenhousemuir are second on 26 points. Their 2-0 win over Queen's Park ended a run of four straight defeats. Their last five read W L L L L, with five scored and 11 conceded, and their goal difference sits at just 2. That record does not belong to a side that looks like a serious challenger. They are second because of what they did earlier in the season, not because of anything recent. My view is that they will drop down the table. A run of clean sheets that lasts beyond one game against the bottom side would change my mind.
As for Queen's Park, the 2-0 defeat was their fifth loss in a row. They have scored two goals in that run and are bottom on seven points.
The chasing pack tightened
Raith's defeat leaves them third on 25 with no win in two. Their last five, L D W L D, read like a side treading water. Ayr United's win lifts them to 18, seventh, and their form has swung back and forth all autumn.
Livingston are the side I would watch. Their 2-0 win over Greenock Morton extends an unbeaten run to five, and they have conceded one goal in that spell. They sit fifth on 24, close behind Raith and Dunfermline. On form they are a better side than either of the two clubs immediately above them in the table. Morton had won four straight before Saturday and had scored 11 across their last five, so keeping them out was a decent piece of work. Morton stay ninth on 13.
Dunfermline and Arbroath sat out
One match was moved to another week. Dunfermline and Arbroath were the two clubs not in action, so their meeting is the fixture still to come. Dunfermline are fourth on 25 from 14 games and unbeaten in five, with two conceded in that run. Of everyone in the top five, they have the best case for being the real threat to Partick. Arbroath are eighth on 14, with one win in their last five.
So Partick lead and look the steadiest team in the division. The places behind them are being held by sides whose form does not justify them, while Livingston and Dunfermline are the ones playing like contenders.