Partick Thistle beat St Johnstone 3-0 in convincing style to alleviate their relegation concerns at Firhill.
Two goals in the first 10 minutes of play from Kris Doolan and Conrad Balatoni put Partick in the ascendancy, and a fine strike by Stuart Bannigan after half-time rounded off a sizzling display. Alan Archibald’s side have now opened up a six-point advantage on Ross County in ninth position as they attempt to stave off relegation.
Partick came into the game on a shocking run of form with one win from their past seven matches, but were on the front foot in this contest and took the lead after three minutes.
From a long throw into the St Johnstone area Abdul Osman saw off the attentions of Chris Millar to flick a pass to the back post where Doolan lost Steven Anderson to score with a header.
For the second goal, a corner from the right was swung in to the near post by Bannigan. Balatoni lost his marker to stoop low and squeeze a header beyond Alan Mannus with nine minutes on the clock.
It could have been three soon afterwards, a break from midfield by James Craigen allowed him to set up Ryan Stevenson, but Mannus got a strong hand to the shot to force it over the crossbar.
St Johnstone showed little resemblance to the team that performed so admirably to win at Celtic Park in their last match.
Partick were content to sit on their lead for the remainder of the game, and although St Johnstone had plenty of possession late on, they never seriously looked like threatening Scott Fox’s clean sheet in a disappointing day for the Perth side.
Ross County fought back from two goals down to collect another vital point in their bid to avoid relegation with a 2-2 draw at Hamilton.
Goals from Jason Scotland and Dougie Imrie in the first 18 minutes put the home side ahead, but Accies extended their miserable run to 10 games without a victory as a goal in each half from Craig Curran and Michael Gardyne was enough to give the Highlanders a deserved draw.
Gary Locke remains unbeaten as Kilmarnock manager after seven games following his side’s 1-0 defeat of St Mirren courtesy of a Lee Miller goal. The game at Rugby Park was decided in the 87th minute when the substitute expertly converted a Josh Magennis square pass to collect his first goal for the club.
In the Championship, Stuart McCall could only draw his first game in charge as Rangers manager as he was forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against bottom side Livingston.
Haris Vuckic, on-loan from Newcastle, fired Rangers ahead after nine minutes. But Livi hit back through Ibra Sekajja before the interval to earn a point. Rangers had been hoping the arrival of McCall would add a much-needed spark to their Scottish Championship promotion push.
Four second-half goals earned Hearts another home victory by beating Dumbarton 4-0 and maintaining their 17-point advantage over Hibs.
The home side went ahead eight minutes after the interval when Osman Sow struck from close range after Dumbarton dallied on a Sam Nicholson corner. Captain Danny Wilson added a second goal after 21 minutes from time when he headed in from substitute Billy King’s corner.
King rounded the win off in style, first evading a host of challenges and striking past Rogers before then bolting into the area to slot under the keeper.
Hibs moved seven points clear of third-placed Rangers with straightforward 2-0 win over struggling Cowdenbeath.
Two goals in three first-half minutes put Hibs in control, with Fraser Fyvie scoring his first goal for the club before Jason Cummings struck his third in three games.
