Motherwell moved off the foot of the Scottish Premiership with a 1-1 home draw against Kilmarnock but will be disappointed not to have secured all three points after playing the second half against 10 men. A stylish strike by Tope Obadeyi put Kilmarnock in the ascendancy after 20 minutes before his team-mate Darryl Westlake was sent off by the referee John Beaton after picking up two bookings in quick succession before half-time. Scott McDonald restored parity for Motherwell by expertly curling in the resulting free-kick, his first goal since returning to Fir Park. The home side had plenty of possession after the break but could not create the chance that would have given them a crucial win in their fight against relegation.
A Craig Curran header, his third goal for Ross County 10 minutes before the interval, was enough to secure a 1-0 win against 10-man Partick Thistle, who had Kallum Higginbotham sent off for a heavy challenge on Michael Gardyne just before the hour. Thistle had the first attempt at goal in the ninth minute when James Craigen played the ball through to Lyle Taylor who shot wide of Mark Brown’s left-hand post. At the other end County strung a few passes together before a Curran shot was charged down just inside the 18-yard box. The visitors broke up the pitch in the 11th minute and when Higginbotham laid back for Steven Lawless he failed to test Brown and blasted his shot over the crossbar. After a promising start the game settled down with little in the way of goalmouth action.
The next attempt on goal came at the half-hour mark when a diagonal ball from Jamie Reckord picked out Jackson Irvine at the back post but the midfielder failed to get proper direction on his header and the ball sailed wide.
It was County who made the breakthrough in the 33rd minute. Raffaele De Vita sent a dangerous ball into the penalty area which was chested down by Liam Boyce and after his shot was charged down by Paul Gallagher the ball bounced up nicely for Curran to place his header into a corner. County went in search of a second goal and they came close in the 53rd minute when Gardyne turned his marker but his shot was wide of Gallagher’s left-hand post. Shortly afterwards Taylor had the ball in the County net but he was ruled offside.
Thistle’s chances of getting back in the match were dealt a blow in the 59th minute when Higginbotham was sent off for a lunging tackle on Gardyne as he was moving away from him. Thistle made all their substitutions in an effort to save the game and Ryan Stevenson made an instant impact with a run down the right – but his shot went into the side netting. After a breakaway in the 87th minute, Jake Jervis headed down for fellow substitute Filip Kiss but his effort was expertly blocked by Gallagher.
The only Scottish Cup quarter-final of the day, between Inverness and Raith, was called off because of a waterlogged pitch. The game has been rescheduled for Tuesday.
In the Scottish Championship, Rangers shared a 0-0 draw with Cowdenbeath at a windy Central Park. The euphoria felt by the fans towards Rangers’ new board was punctured 24 hours later against a team who had lost 10-0 to Hearts last weekend. The visitors’ captain, Lee McCulloch, struck the bar with a header in the first half’s closing seconds but it was a game of disappointment for Gers fans in the crowd of 3,344.
