Kallum Higginbotham missed two late penalties for 10-man Dunfermline as they could only manage a 1-1 with Ayr in the Scottish Championship match at East End Park.

Higginbotham wasted two chances from the spot in the 83rd and 85th minutes after Paul McMullan and then Higginbotham himself were taken down in the box.

Nicky Clark had put Dunfermline ahead on the half-hour mark with a strike from the middle of the area before Lewis Martin was sent off for his second bookable offence in the 48th minute after he brought down Scott McKenna to concede a penalty.

Alan Forest stepped up and equalised for Ayr from the spot to share the points ahead of the late drama.

St Mirren wasted the chance to claim their first Ladbrokes Championship win of the season after they lost 3-1 against Falkirk.

Lewis Morgan opened the scoring for rock bottom St Mirren in the 17th minute when John Sutton knocked the ball down for the winger who rifled it into the back of the net.

However, St Mirren's task of claiming a valuable victory was made all the more tricky shortly before the break when defender Jack Baird was sent off for a foul on Lee Miller.

Miller levelled for Falkirk two minutes into the second half, Bob McHugh added the second in the 78th before Myles Hippolyte made sure of victory with his 83rd-minute goal.

Dumbarton held on to record their second win in 13 Scottish Championship matches as they claimed a narrow 2-1 victory over Queen of the South at Palmerston Park.

The hosts began to dominate possession from kick-off and came close with a number of chances but Mark Millar fired wide before Stephen Dobbie had an attempt saved and then shot over the crossbar, while Lyndon Dykes and Grant Anderson also tried their luck to no avail.

But, against the run of play, it was Dumbarton that took the lead just after the half-hour mark as former Hearts midfielder Ryan Stevenson collected the ball from Josh Todd and picked out the top corner from 25 yards out for his third goal of the season.

The Sons doubled their lead just before the break through a Garry Fleming penalty - awarded for a push on Joseph Thomson from Jamie Hamill - which the vice captain fired high to sting the Doonhamers' net.

Jim Thomson's hosts hit back through a close-range Derek Lyle effort with 10 minutes remaining to give themselves hope of rescuing a point but the visitors held on to move up a spot to eighth in the table.