Ruari Paton punishes Arbroath again as Queen’s Park march on

Ruari Paton was once again Arbroath’s nemesis as his second-half strike helped Queen’s Park record a 1-0 win to continue their 100 per cent start to the Scottish Championship season.

The visiting Spiders, who had Paton to thank for last week’s winner when the teams met in Glasgow, made a sharp start and had a Patrick Jarrett goal ruled out for offside and a strong penalty claim waved away when Charlie Fox went down in the area.

It was not all one-way traffic as Aaron Steele’s header grazed the top of the crossbar for Arbroath but the decisive moment came in the 69th minute when Jack Spong put through Paton, who slotted through Derek Gaston’s legs.

Callan McKenna produced a superb save at the other end to keep out Jay Bird’s header before Tom Robson cleared off the line as Queen’s Park held on to secure their third successive win and send Arbroath spiralling to three defeats in a row.