A second-half penalty from St Johnstone’s Brian Graham denied Dundee their fourth straight Premiership win in a hard-fought Tayside derby at Dens Park. The on-loan Dundee United forward struck after 53 minutes to give Tommy Wright’s side a 1-1 draw after David Clarkson had put the hosts ahead after 41 minutes .
A Christie Elliot strike 15 minutes from time was enough to give Partick three crucial points against St Mirren and lift them seven clear of the bottom of the Premiership table. After a poor first half the Firhill side had a better second half and did just enough for the points. On a miserable afternoon for football, though, it was another dismal home performance from St Mirren which leaves the Paisley side joint bottom with Ross County.
A stunning first-half performance by Ross County secured their first away win of the Premiership season, at Kilmarnock, meaning they are now only bottom of the league table on goal difference. The Staggies move level on points with St Mirren, while Kilmarnock drop out of the top six despite conceding three goals at home for the second game in a row. Goals by Graham Carey – via a rebound off the goalkeeper, Craig Samson – Michael Gardyne and Paul Quinn gave the Staggies a 3-0 lead at the break and Killie could find no way back into the game.
Alim Ozturk was the hero for Hearts again as the Scottish Championship leaders maintained their four-point lead with a 1-0 home win against Raith Rovers. Ozturk’s long-range effort rescued a point against rivals Hibernian in their last outing, and this time the defender found the net from 30 yards after striding forward unchallenged and unleashing a fierce drive past David McGurn. The fifth-minute goal lit up an otherwise dull affair but the Jambos did what they needed to maintain the four-point gap over Rangers.
Lewis Macleod celebrated his Scotland call-up with a goal and an assist as Rangers beat Falkirk 4-0 in the Scottish Championship. The 20-year-old headed Rangers two ahead in the 69th minute at Ibrox days after being named in Gordon Strachan’s squad for the first time ahead of the European Championship qualifier against Republic of Ireland and the friendly against England. The goal was the midfielder’s eighth of the season and he soon set up Kenny Miller to put Rangers three up. Nicky Law had fired the opener in the 25th minute after some slack defending from Falkirk, who put on a decent show until being caught on the break for Macleod’s goal. Substitute Nicky Clark rounded off the scoring as Rangers remained four points behind leaders Hearts following their eighth consecutive victory in all competitions. Hibs beat Cowdenbeath 2-1 with goals from Paul Hanlon and Jason Cummings.
