25/01/2010

Damn you Andrew Little! (or: "The Scottish Fitba Review")

In a remarkable weekend of Scottish fitba in which the league leaders across all four divisions either saved or dropped valuable points in injury time, Inside Left comes out smelling of roses, as the predictions we made on Friday turn out to be almost correct.

I was actually a minute or so away from cleaning up at the bookies until Rangers youngster Andrew Little scored to earn the defending champions a point, and deny Hearts their win at Ibrox in six years. The potential winnings would not have meant retiring to a life of golf and international jet travel, but it would have meant an upgrade from the usual "6 small margueritas" to the more decadent "3 medium margueritas" down at our local Dominos.

T'was not to be however, all of which means that this will be the last time I'll be bemoaning the failure of "the emergence of young talent coming through the ranks" and all that bollocks. I mean, the 91st minute. At Ibrox. I ask you..

So of the five games we placed a bet on (remember we have a policy of not betting on Aberdeen games, not so much out of principle, but more out of a sense of costly history), we where going great until Andrew Little popped up in extra time to equalise against Hearts. We felt sure that Celtic and United would win (which they did somewhat emphatically, both sides recording 4-1 wins over St Johnstone and Falkirk respectively) but the game at Ibrox was the one in which we saw the potential of a major upset, hence our cheeky bet on Friday.

Elsewhere, Hibernian fairly trounced Hamilton, Motherwell recorded a comfortable win over St Mirren, and Derek Young rained on Jimmy Calderwood's return to Pittodrie as his second-half volleyed shot from eight yards earned the Dons some much needed points against Kilmarnock - and only their fourth home win of the season.

Down in the Scottish Football League, Dundee had to wait until the 77th minute and a Leigh Griffiths equaliser to secure at lost some pointage against Queen of the South. Division two leaders Cowdenbeath lost 2-1 away at Dumbarton, with the Sons coming back from a 30th minute Cowdenbeath goal to earn all three points as a scrambled goal a minute from time proved decisive. And Division three leaders Livingston needed a goal deep in injury time from Liam Fox to earn them a point away at struggling Stranraer.

There's no change at the top in the SPL, but Rangers' lead has been cut to nine points. It seems a lot, but bear in mind Celtic have a game in hand. Celtic remain second, with Dundee United in third and Hibs in fourth. Falkirk are still at the bottom, separated by a single point from Killmarnock - a team still without its first SPL win under new management - in 11th place.

Dundee's draw with Queen of the South allowed Ross County to move into second place. The Staggies won 1-0 at Ayr, and lead third placed Queen of the South by two points. Despite Dundee dropping two points, they're still comfortably leading the division by a massive nine points.

Down in Division Two, of the top three sides only Alloa managed to collect maximum points - they beat Stenhousemuir 2-0. As Stirling Albion drew 3-3 with East Fife, it means there's no change at the top, but that gap is getting smaller: just four points now separate third from first. Clyde remain anchored at the bottom of the table, as they lost 3-0 to fourth placed Brechin City.

Livingston are still top of Division Three, but they're now level on points with East Stirlingshire. The Shire recorded a 1-0 win over bottom side Montrose, whose search for a win this season continues. Third placed Berwick Rangers recorded a 5-1 win over Elgin City to keep up in the race for the play-offs.

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