IAN McCALL may be reluctant to admit it, but Ayr United must surely now be considered genuine candidates to become champions.

With a third of the season gone they have opened up a three-point lead at the top of the Championship table, capitalising on Ross County dropping points for the second game running.

It was far from a vintage performance of flair and entertainment. This was all about patience and professionalism to overcome a stifling Falkirk side.

McCall said: “Us champions? No. We’re just getting closer to 40 points.

“It was a grind. It wasn’t a good game of football. The pitch isn’t great and needs re-laid.

“Ray [McKinnon, the Falkirk manager] – rightly so – set up his team in a certain way to make them really hard to beat.

“And Falkirk are far better than they were, in my opinion. They were very difficult to break down and they showed spirit in the second half as well. But we got the goal and we maybe could have had one or two more.

"Falkirk had a couple of half-chances near the end with headers but Ross Doohan didn’t have a save to make.

“It’s unusual to see a Falkirk team set up like that at home but I would never blame Ray for doing it because needs must.

“He’s got to try to get some points until January when he can turn things around.

"We have had a good week with three wins. The football against Alloa was good at times but they have been battles.

“We have not lost a goal and scored five and we’ve got nine points, which is great.”

Craig Moore was the man who came up with the winning goal, even if it must go down as a goal-keeping error.

Mark Kerr’s ball to the edge of the box in 52 minutes was laid off by Lawrence Shankland and Moore hit a half-volley that David Mitchell allowed to squeeze past him into the left corner.

Falkirk showed resilience and attempted to come back. Indeed, they probably merited a draw for their effort but lacked composure.

Zak Rudden headed wide from Joe McKee’s cross in 57 minutes and there were a couple of close calls at the death.

It leaves Falkirk bottom, but boss McKinnon believes there are shoots of recovery.

He said: “There was nothing in the game. We limited them to nothing until we made a mistake.”