Scottish football pitch invasion after title win as Neil Lennon gets huge result and makes 'hardest job' claim

The first champions of the SPFL campaign have been crowned after Arbroath won League One in style with a 4-0 victory over third-placed Stenhousemuir.

The Red Lichties struck three times in eight minutes either side of half-time, with Sam Stanton bagging a brace, to secure promotion to the Championship and sparking a pitch invasion at Gayfield.

Fraser Taylor was also on target in that goal blitz and Andy Winter struck on the hour to take Arbroath 11 points clear of Cove Rangers with three games remaining.

Arbroath's Scott Stewart celebrates at full time with the club's supporters. | SNS Group

Cove got their promotion bid back on track with a 3-1 win at bottom club Dumbarton. Rangers had lost their last two in a four-game run without a victory, but took control with first-half goals from Dylan Lobban and Fraser Fyvie. Although already-relegated Dumbarton reduced the deficit early in the second half through Kristian Webster, Lobban grabbed his second with nine minutes left.

Queen of the South beat 10-man Montrose 2-1 at Palmerston Park for a third straight win to keep themselves in the top four. Adam Brooks gave the home side an early lead, with Montrose midfielder Terry Masson sent off late in the first half for a second caution. Jordan Allan struck a second just after the hour, with Montrose getting a late consolation from Blair Lyons.

Alloa beat Annan 1-0 with a second-half goal from Magnus MacKenzie, while late strikes from Luke McCarvel and Robbie Cole saw Kelty Hearts win 2-0 at Inverness.

There was drama in the Championship as Livingston cut the gap on leaders Falkirk to six points with a 2-1 win at Morton.

Falkirk had seen their title celebrations delayed following a 1-1 draw at Ayr on Friday night – and Livingston made sure the champagne was left on ice for another week at least. Cristian Montano and Scott Pitman had put the visitors in control, but Ali Crawford’s free-kick reduced the deficit just before half-time.

Another defeat for Partick Thistle

Play-off hopefuls Partick Thistle slipped to a 2-1 home defeat by relegation-battlers Hamilton. Nikolay Todorov and Scott Robinson struck in the space of two minutes just after the quarter-hour mark.

Brian Graham headed a consolation in stoppage time as Thistle suffered a second straight league defeat.

Raith, though, missed the chance to close up on the top four after being held to a 1-1 draw at bottom club Airdrie. Chris Mochrie had put the hosts in front after 19 minutes, but Raith equalised just before half-time through Jamie Gullan’s header.

Dunfermline, under former Celtic and Hibs manager Neil Lennon, also boosted their survival hopes with a 1-0 win at fellow strugglers Queen’s Park after Christopher Kane’s struck with 20 minutes left. The Pars are now up to eighth on goal difference over the Spiders.

“We will have to wait and see how crucial that win was,” said Lennon. “We will have to wait and see how the next three games go. It was just important to win and keep that confidence going. We dominated this game and deserved to win. The players worked really hard, they’ve had a good week, and it’s a crucial three points. But it’s still a four-team scrap. I said last week it’s going to flip-flop and it has again. It will flip-flop again as we go along

“The players are driving me crazy This is one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever had. We are putting an enormous amount of work in and the players are responding great but they just lack that bit of quality sometimes. In Chris Kane we have a goal-scorer, which is priceless at this level. We needed him today. We missed him last week and I’m going to wrap him up in cotton wool for the rest of the season. We just need to get him out there because he’s got that talismanic type of character about him.”

Neil Lennon celebrates Dunfermline's win at Queen's Park. | SNS Group

In League Two, Peterhead kept themselves on course for the title with a 1-0 win over Spartans. Cammy Smith’s goal midway through the first half proved decisive.

East Fife sit four points back after a 2-0 win at bottom club Bonnyrigg Rose, who finished with 10 men and slipped closer to the relegation play-off. Nathan Austin put the visitors ahead early in the second half, with Bonnyrigg forward Ryan Porteous sent off just after the hour for two cautions. East Fife substitute Adam Laaref scored a second in stoppage time, leaving Bonnyrigg seven points adrift with three games left.

Edinburgh City beat promotion rivals Elgin 2-0 at Meadowbank with goals in each half from Malik Zaid and Innes Lawson. A brace from Ryan Shanley helped Stirling beat Stranraer 3-1 to keep alive their own top-four hopes while strugglers Clyde and Forfar battled out a 1-1 draw at New Douglas Park.