A Collin Samuel hat-trick allowed Falkirk to cruise to a 4-1 victory over Arbroath at Gayfield and go three points clear at the top.

He grabbed three goals in the opening 45 minutes to give the Bairns a comfortable lead heading into the interval.

Veteran hitman Owen Coyle added to the scoreline before John McGlashan pulled a goal back for the home side late in the game.

Inverness Caley manager John Robertson had an unhappy home debut as manager as his side slipped to their first defeat in almost four months, losing 1-0 to Ayr.

The previous league leaders were shambolic in the opening stages, losing an early goal when Stewart Kean curled an effort past Mark Brown after only three minutes.

The visitors could have added to this tally, but found former Rangers youngster Mark Brown in a selfish mood and it was his first half heroics that kept Caley in touch with their visitors.

The home side perked up in the second period and came close on a couple of occasions, but it was not enough to get themselves back into the game.

Clyde came from behind to climb above St Johnstone into third place in the First Division thanks to a 2-1 victory, the goals coming from John Fraser and Simon Mensing at McDiarmid Park.

Paddy Connolly gave Saints the lead in the fourth minute but the Bully Wee played classic counter-attacking football to take the points with a 2-1 win.

Fraser hit home from an excellent bit of play by Willie Falconer in the 29th minute.

But, 10 minutes after the break, Mensing took advantage of a defensive error to rifle home the winner.

St Mirren striker Martin Cameron scored his 18th goal of the season to condemn 10-man Ross County to a 1-0 defeat.

The former Bristol Rovers forward hit home the only goal of the game at Love Street as County struggled following the 26th-minute dismissal of Sean Webb.

The County defender saw red when he deliberately handled to deny Junior Mendes a clear run on goal.

But the result also acted as a piece of vengeance for Saints after the Highland side handed out a 4-0 drubbing at Victoria Park last month.

In the day's final game bottom club Alloa kept their survival hopes alive as they fought back to claim a point in a dramatic 3-3 draw against Queen of the South.

The struggling Wasps came back from behind three times in an end-to-end game but although they still search for their first home win of the season, manager Terry Christie will take great confidence from a spirited performance.