Scottish Championship round-up: Rangers leave it late

Billy King snatched a late debut goal as Rangers beat Falkirk 1-0 at Ibrox.

King, who joined Mark Warburton's side on loan from Hearts on Thursday, came off the bench and headed home a stoppage-time winner to extend Rangers' lead at the top of the Championship table to eight points.

The hosts appeared to be heading for the first goalless draw under Warburton, but the 21-year-old's driving header lifted them eight points clear of nearest rivals Hibernian, who were busy beating St Johnstone in the League Cup semi-finals.

It was a cruel blow for Peter Houston's disciplined Bairns, whose title hopes appear to be over having now fallen 10 points behind the table-toppers.

Blair Alston squandered a great chance for Falkirk inside the first two minutes as he headed over Wes Foderingham's goal while it took Rangers a quarter of an hour to register their first meaningful attempt, a James Tavernier strike pushed away by Danny Rogers.

The Falkirk goalkeeper was forced to scramble back and tip the ball over his own crossbar seven minutes before the break but even that only came about after Light Blues midfielder Dean Shiels over hit his cross.

The clearest chance of the half came on 40 minutes. Will Vaulks forced Foderingham to palm ball back into traffic with a fierce hit at the back post and just as John Baird looked to turn home the rebound, Danny Wilson produced a goal-saving block on the line before Ball was finally able to smash clear for the worried hosts.

Kenny Miller did have the ball in Falkirk's net just after the restart but the veteran striker had wandered offside before Martyn Waghorn's deflected strike landed at his feet, while at the other end Foderingham was again smart with his reflexes to deny Conor McGrandles' strike.

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Warbuton tried to spice up his attack by throwing January signings King and Harry Forrester on after an hour.

But even that did little to improve their accuracy in the final third as the game ticked towards a close.

However, the new signing made himself an instant hero as he leapt onto Tavernier's cross to head home the 90th minute winner.

St Mirren 3-1 Alloa Athletic

St Mirren claimed their first home win of the season after battling back from an early goal against Alloa Athletic.

Issac Layne sent Jamie Langfield the wrong way from the penalty spot on nine minutes to give the visitors the lead following a handball from Keith Watson.

Watson atoned for his early mistake to level the scores eight minutes before the half-time break.

Calum Gallagher put the Saints ahead after the restart when he sent a looping header over Lanfield.

Stephen Mallan made sure of the points when he finished off a swift counter attack.

Dumbarton 1-0 Livingston

Dumbarton climbed away from the relegation zone with 1-0- victory over Livingston.

The match got underway in windy conditions following a minute's silence for Son's chief executive Gilbert Lawrie, who died recently at the age of 55.

Following a goalless first half Mark Docherty broke the deadlock when his corner cleared everyone in the box including goalkeeper Marc McCullum before finding the top far corner.

Livi pushed forward in search of an equaliser but Dumbarton goalkeeper Jamie Ewings kept out Liam Buchanan's right-footed shot and a header from Jordyn Sherrin.

Tom Wash missed squandered a chance to double the lead when he fired straight at McCallum after the keeper had fumbled Garry Fleming's attempt.