by John Reid
Celtic almost win the league and a mad finale to the Ramsden’s cup final are the main talking points of this week’s round-up.
Celtic are now only a point away from retaining the SPL title after a comfortable 3-0 win over Hibs, with two goals from Kris Commons. Commons – who looked to have a serious injury after being carried off in last week’s game with St. Mirren – was the star man as Celtic easily beat a Hibs side who offered very little.
Celtic would have won the title if St. Mirren had won at Motherwell, but that game ended 2-2, a fine late free-kick from James McFadden getting the ‘Well a point. It wouldn’t surprise me if McFadden ended up back in the Scotland squad, he has been excellent for Motherwell.
Third placed Inverness had a dull goalless draw with St. Johnstone, whilst Ross County lost three goals in ten minutes, as they went from being 2-1 up at Hearts to losing 4-2, the pick of the goals coming from Jason Holt.
The real drama took place in the hunt for a top six finish, with Kilmarnock who were in pole position blowing it after losing 2-1 at home to relegation doomed Dundee. Even worse for Killie both of Dundee’s goals were scored by ex Killie midfielder Gary Harkins. In yet another twist of fate, Killie looked like they would still finish sixth until a goal in injury from Rory Boulding – an ex Kilmarnock player – gave Dundee United a 1-0 win over Aberdeen and secured sixth place for United. It also meant that Craig Brown’s final game as a football manager ended in defeat.
One of the biggest games of the weekend was the Ramsden’s cup final for lower league teams in Scotland, which was won by Queen of the South, beating Partick Thistle 6-5 on penalties after the game had ended 1-1 after extra time. The game – which was a dull affair – saw Queens take the lead in the first half of extra time through Nicky Clark. The game then exploded in the final minutes of extra time as firstly Queens goalie Lee Robinson saved a penalty from Aaron Muirhead, who was then sent-off after head butting Queen’s Chris Higgins, before Kris Doolan grabbed a Jags equaliser in the last second. Queen’s goalie Robinson was the hero in the shoot-out, as he saved two penalties and even scored one for the second division champions, Thistle will have to pick themselves up as they take on Morton in a potential first division title decider on Wednesday.
Rangers won 4-1 at Queen’s Park in the third division, but the saga between Craig Whyte and Charles Green rumbles on, with both men threatening to sue each other, with Ally McCoist stuck in the middle.
The round-up will return with a Scottish Cup special next weekend, as we will look at the semi-finals between Hibs and Falkirk and Celtic and Dundee United.
