Championship round-up: Surprise goal-scoring hero, massive win for Arbroath, tight at the top and bottom

Former Aberdeen and Dundee United defender Mark Reynolds was the surprise goal-scoring hero of the weekend in the Championship as the top two in the league failed to win.

Mark Reynolds celebrates after scoring twice to earn Cove Rangers a draw at promotion chasers Partick Thistle. (Photo by Ewan Bootman / SNS Group)

The veteran centre-back scored twice in the final ten minutes to earn Cove Rangers a valuable point at Partick Thistle who are the new league leaders despite dropping two points at Firhill in a 2-2 draw.

Steven Lawless hit a fine goal to put Ian McCall's men in front with Stuart Banningan netting after the interval. The Jags boss described some of the football from the home side as “sparkling” but said the two points dropped felt like a defeat, noting his side “should have scored at least four goals” with Kyle Gourlay in fine form for Cove.

Both of Reynolds’ goals came from set pieces. The point ensured Jim McIntyre's men stayed off of the foot of the Championship following Arbroath’s win at Greenock Morton.

“It’s never happened," Reynolds said of his brace. “I said to the boys, I gave them 80 minutes then decided you know what, sometimes you just need to do it yourself.”

Ayr United were unable to take advantage of those late goals as they fell to a 3-2 defeat at Raith Rovers, losing top spot in the process.

Kyle Connell was resplendent for the home side and opened the scoring with a lovely goal early on. Raith led 2-0 at the break but the Honest Men fought back through Brady Young and Andy Murdoch but were undone by a Scott Brown goal late on.

Raith boss Ian Murray called it a “deserved win”, praising his side’s first-half performance.

With Queen's Park winning 2-0 at Hamilton Accies thanks to goals from Simon Murray and the increasingly impressive Grant Savoury and Inverness CT emerging with a 3-2 victory from Dens Park, there are now six points separating the top six.

Dundee boss Gary Bowyer was left fuming with referee Peter Stuart’s performance, calling it the “worst performance" he has ever seen.

At the bottom, Arbroath got their first win of the league campaign in Greenock through goals from Dale Hilson and Michael McKenna. It means six points separate the bottom seven, demonstrating the competitiveness and excitement of Scotland's second tier.