@splstats looks at some of the numbers behind the New Year games, with the focus on Inverness CT, Celtic, Rangers, Dunfermline Athletic and Elgin.
50 Inverness CT moved into the top six after defeating Ross County 2-0 in the Highland derby. The match was the 50th competitive meeting of the clubs, with the first having come back in August 1994, when Caley Thistle won 3-1 at Victoria Park in the Third Division. Saturday marked a 25th victory for Inverness, while County have picked up just 12 wins. The Staggies have now gone seven league derbies without a win, with their last victory coming over two years ago.
18 Celtic reopened a three-point gap to Aberdeen after leaving it late to beat Partick Thistle 1-0 at Celtic Park on Saturday. The Bhoys have now won their last 18 league matches against the Jags, racking up an aggregate scoreline of 45-9 in the process. Thistle’s last success against their city rivals came back in May 1995, when a Wayne Foster double and a goal from Chic Charnley handed them a 3-1 win at Hampden. Back then, Oasis had the No 1 single with ‘Some Might Say’ and Wet Wet Wet topped the album charts with ‘Picture This’.
5 Rangers remain three points clear of Falkirk and Hibernian in the Ladbrokes Championship title race after beating Dumbarton 6-0 at the Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium on Saturday. Kenny Miller was the Gers hero, scoring the first three goals before strikes from Martyn Waghorn, Andy Halliday and James Tavernier ran up the score in the last 20 minutes. It was the fifth hat-trick of Miller’s career, with the first coming over 15 years ago when he netted five goals during Rangers’ 7-1 win against St Mirren at Ibrox in November 2000. Miller also scored a hat-trick for Wolves in a 4-0 win over Crystal Palace in March 2004, and claimed two more trebles for Rangers against Hibernian and Kilmarnock in 2010.
6 Dunfermline Athletic extended their lead at the top of Ladbrokes League 1 to nine points after beating Cowdenbeath 2-1 in a Fife derby at East End Park. The Pars have now recorded six consecutive wins, the first time they have done so since the spring of 2011, when they won their final six matches of the season on their way to the First Division title. The Pars face Ross County in the Scottish Cup on Saturday and will have the chance to make it seven wins in a row for the first time in over 30 years.
1 Elgin City have moved to the top of the Ladbrokes League 2 table after defeating East Fife 2-0 at Bayview on Saturday. Since joining the SFL in 2000, the Black and Whites have occupied the bottom tier for 16 consecutive seasons, but this is the first time they have led the division during the second half of the season. Jim Weir’s side are unbeaten at home, but went four months without an away league win between August and December. However, they have now won back-to-back matches on the road - if they can continue this form for the rest of the campaign then their stint in the bottom tier may well come to an end.
