Arbroath suffered only their fourth loss of the season as they crashed to a comfortable defeat at Inverness on Saturday.
The Angus side has lost their grip on top spot for the first time in almost three months following the 3-0 loss.
Kilmarnock now boast a two point advantage over the Gayfield side with the Rugby Park side in pole position to lift the Championship.
But with seven games left what does the defeat mean for Arbroath’s title challenge?
Courier Sport was at Inverness and here are three talking points from the Arbroath loss:
Damaging defeat but all not lost for Arbroath
Arbroath were top of the Championship for eleven games before Kilmarnock reached the summit on Friday night.
The Gayfield side are now two points behind with just seven games to play after the loss in the Highlands.
Some have suggested this could be the start of the slide for Arbroath but recent history suggests otherwise.
📺| Football Focus
Part-time @ArbroathFC currently sit top of the Scottish Championship, just six years after being the second worst team in professional Scottish football.
Can Dick Campbell take his team to the Scottish Premiership?
Watch today at 12 noon on BBC One. pic.twitter.com/z8PJen2Wpb
— Studio Something (@s0methingsays) February 19, 2022
In fact, it’s a full calendar year since Dick Campbell’s men lost back-to-back games in the Championship.
Two defeats to Inverness and reversals at Ayr United and Raith are the only blots on their copy book this term.
Ironically, both Ayr and Raith are due to visit Gayfield in the next two games with Arbroath coach Rab Douglas they’ll up their game.
Dick Campbell will be banished to the stands after red card
Dick Campbell is no stranger to falling foul of referees.
In 2018 he was hit with a seven game ban.
That came as he confronted referee Mike Roncone on the Somerset Park turf for refusing to give Arbroath a penalty.
On Saturday, Campbell was again sent to the stands for dissent.
He is likely to be hit with a touchline ban but it may not quite have the impact you think.
"They were throwing their pies at me…I was just catching them and eating them!" 🤣🤣
Legendary @ArbroathFC manager Dick Campbell tells @CraigWLevein and @AmyJIrons about his pitch invasion 😂
Full Sacked in the Morning episode 👉 https://t.co/9N0G02Zz9Q pic.twitter.com/ZROnZrcHUk
— BBC Radio Scotland (@BBCRadioScot) November 6, 2021
Campbell often chooses to sit in the stand.
In fact, he spent the first 20 minutes in the main stand at Inverness before decided his presence was needed in the touchline.
At Gayfield, his seat will be on the edge of the pitch.
And you can bet he’ll make his voice heard.
Friday night fever
It was almost always going to come down to THAT Kilmarnock v Arbroath clash on the second last week of the season.
And should Arbroath get their title bid back on track in the coming weeks, that match could be pivotal.
The Rugby Park clash has been brought forward 24 hours to be screened live on BBC Scotland on Friday 22nd of April.
The fact it’s on a Friday night will not only impact on Arbroath’s part-time squad but also reduce the numbers of travelling Lichties fans.
But if there’s a title at stake, there will be a maroon invasion of Ayrshire.
