Kilmarnock lost ground in the Scottish Championship title race with a 2-1 home defeat to Ayr.

Things began well for the hosts when Fraser Murray converted Christopher Burke’s pass to open the scoring after only seven minutes.

However, the lead was short-lived as Sean McGinty set up James Maxwell to score the equaliser with just 14 minutes on the clock.

Aidan McAdams made a fine save to deny Chris Stokes, while at the other end Zach Hemming did likewise as he tipped Kerr McInroy’s effort over the crossbar.

It looked like the game would end in a draw but McGinty teed-up Patrick Reading to score the winner 10 minutes from time to leave Kilmarnock five points behind leaders Arbroath.