Partick Thistle stun leaders Falkirk with last-gasp winner in feisty encounter

Partick Thistle stunned title-chasing Falkirk as Terry Ablade secured a dramatic 2-1 William Hill Championship victory in the eighth minute of stoppage time.

Thistle were reduced to 10 men after 35 minutes as Stuart Bannigan’s late challenge on Dylan Tait earned the midfielder a second yellow card.

The hosts had taken a sixth-minute lead through interim manager Brian Graham’s 19th goal of the season after Aidan Fitzpatrick had caught Tom Lang playing out from the back.

Falkirk made the most of their extra man within four minutes as Ross MacIver chested Leon McCann’s cross into the path of Scott Arfield, and his volley nestled into the bottom corner of the net.

The numbers were evened up seven minutes from time after Alfredo Agyeman crashed into Robbie Crawford.

Partick poured forward in the closing stages and Ablade, on loan from Fulham, scored a close-range header – his first goal since August – to put Thistle three points ahead of Raith in the final play-off position.

Second-placed Livingston will draw level on points at the top by beating bottom-placed Hamilton on Saturday, although Falkirk have a superior goal difference of 11 at the moment.