Queen of the South have climbed to second spot in the Scottish Championship after beating Raith Rovers 4-3 in a dramatic clash on Friday night.

The visitors looked bright in the early stages, and they took a deserved lead in the seventh minute when John Baird took advantage of a mistake from Ross Laidlaw to convert from close range.

Despite being forced onto the back foot for long spells of the first half, Raith were almost level before the break when Zander Clark's firm header was tipped over by Martin Scott.

Queen of the South looked on course for all three points five minutes after the interval as Gavin Reilly fired home from Daniel Carmichael's inviting pass to double his side's lead.

However, they were pegged back just before the hour mark when Mark Stewart beat the offside trap to slot home from inside the box.

Raith levelled the scores three minutes later when Christian Nade took advantage of some hesitant defending to fire in the equaliser.

Despite being dealt another blow when Kevin Holt was dismissed for a dangerous tackle on Jason Thomson, it appeared that the visitors would collect all three points thanks to a Derek Lyle header in the 74th minute.

There would be another twist, though, as Stewart arrived in the six-yard box to tap home from Scott's cross.

However, Iain Russell had the final say as he created space on the edge of the area before firing the winner into the bottom corner.