@splstats looks at some of the numbers behind the weekend games, with the focus on Partick Thistle, Dundee, Rangers and the Scottish Cup.
5 Partick Thistle climbed to ninth in the Ladbrokes Premiership after thumping Kilmarnock 5-2 at Rugby Park on Saturday. The last time the Jags scored five goals away from home in the top flight, “Firestarter” by The Prodigy was UK No 1. That was back in March 1996, when Hearts were defeated at Tynecastle by the same 5-2 scoreline, thanks to goals from Andy Lyons (2), Tommy Turner, Billy MacDonald and Ian Cameron. Saturday’s victory was the first time the Jags have netted five goals against Killie at Rugby Park.
4 Dundee remain seventh in the Ladbrokes Premiership after drawing 1-1 with St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Friday night. The scoreline should have come as little surprise - Paul Hartley’s side have now drawn 1-1 in five of their last six matches, including their last four in a row. The last time Dundee recorded the same scoreline in four consecutive matches was over 30 years ago, in February and March 1985. Back then, they strung together 1-0 victories against Rangers, St Mirren, Morton and Hibernian. They have never recorded the same result in five consecutive matches, so we could see history of a sort in Saturday’s game against Aberdeen.
17 Rangers defeated St Mirren 4-0 at Ibrox to set up a Petrofac Training Cup final with Peterhead in April. The Gers will be competing in the final for the second time, having lost to Raith Rovers at Easter Road in 2014. Kenny Miller celebrated his new contract by scoring, 17 years to the day after he scored the very first goal of his career. That strike came during his loan spell at Stenhousemuir, when Miller netted in a 3-1 victory away to Albion Rovers in the Third Division.
7 The top two in Ladbrokes League 1 clashed in the Scottish Cup on Saturday, with second-placed Dunfermline defeating leaders Ayr United 1-0 at Somerset Park. The Pars’ victory meant they continued their record of having played in round four (or its equivalent) in each of the last 31 seasons – the last time they failed to do so was in 1984/85. The Fife club are unbeaten on their last seven visits to Somerset Park, picking up five wins and two draws.
4 Annan Athletic and Inverurie Loco Works played out the highest-scoring tie in round three of the Scottish Cup, drawing 4-4 at Harlaw Park. The sides were meeting in the cup for the first time and provided a classic match, with Annan coming from 3-1 down to lead 4-3, only for Inverurie to level things up in the last minute. The replay takes place on Saturday, and if last season is anything to go by there will be a cracker in store. At this stage 12 months ago, Elgin City and Bo’ness United drew 4-4, before going one better in the replay with Bo’ness winning 5-4.
