7 – Dundee United defeated Partick Thistle 4-1 at the Energy Check Stadium at Firhill to extend their lead at the top of the Ladbrokes Championship to 17 points. Robbie Neilson’s side have now recorded six consecutive away wins, equalling a club record in the process. Lawrence Shankland scored his third hat-trick of the season to take his tally to 22 goals in 19 Championship games for the Tangerines. The 24-year old Scotland striker has managed an incredible seven hat-tricks since the start of 2018 and is the first United player to score a hat-trick away from home since Johnny Russell against Kilmarnock in January 2013.
Lawrence Shankland’s hat-tricks
24/03/2018: Ayr United 4-0 Queen’s Park (Ladbrokes League 1) - 3 goals
14/07/2018: Ayr United 3-1 Greenock Morton (Betfred Cup) – 3 goals
24/07/2018: Ayr United 5-0 Stenhousemuir (Betfred Cup) – 3 goals
30/11/2018: Dundee United 0-5 Ayr United (Ladbrokes Championship) – 4 goals
03/08/2019: Dundee United 4-1 Inverness CT (Ladbrokes Championship) – 4 goals
28/09/2019: Dundee United 6-0 Greenock Morton (Ladbrokes Championship) – 3 goals
11/01/2020: Partick Thistle 1-4 Dundee United (Ladbrokes Championship) – 3 goals
6 – Greenock Morton moved three points clear of the Ladbrokes Championship relegation spots thanks to a 3-2 victory over Dunfermline Athletic at Cappielow. David Hopkin’s side have won two consecutive league matches for only the second time this season, as they look to pull clear of the battle at the bottom and push for the final promotion play-off spot. The Ton are now unbeaten in their last six matches against the Pars in Greenock.
Morton’s unbeaten home run against Dunfermline
09/09/2017: Greenock Morton 3-2 Dunfermline Athletic (Ladbrokes Championship)
03/02/2018: Greenock Morton 2-1 Dunfermline Athletic (Ladbrokes Championship)
22/09/2018: Greenock Morton 1-1 Dunfermline Athletic (Ladbrokes Championship)
26/01/2019: Greenock Morton 0-0 Dunfermline Athletic (Ladbrokes Championship)
05/10/2019: Greenock Morton 1-1 Dunfermline Athletic (Ladbrokes Championship)
11/01/2020: Greenock Morton 3-2 Dunfermline Athletic (Ladbrokes Championship)
3 – Falkirk defeated Peterhead 3-1 at Balmoor to close the gap at the top of Ladbrokes League 1 to a single point. The Bairns remain unbeaten since David McCracken and Lee Miller took charge, a run which now stretches to eight matches in all competitions. Declan McManus scored his second hat-trick of the season to take his tally to 18 goals in all competitions since joining the Bairns on loan from Ross County. McManus is the first Falkirk player to score a hat-trick away from home since John Baird against Dumbarton in 2015.
Falkirk’s away hat-tricks since 2000
26/10/2002: Lee Miller v St Mirren (4-4, 1st Division)
08/02/2003: Owen Coyle v Inverness CT (4-3, 1st Division)
24/08/2004: Andy Thomson v Peterhead (6-1, League Cup)
04/11/2006: Anthony Stokes v Dunfermline Athletic (3-0, SPL)
01/01/2007: Alan Gow v Dundee United (5-1, SPL)
22/12/2012: Lyle Taylor v Airdrieonians (4-1, 1st Division)
24/08/2013: Phil Roberts v Livingston (3-0, Ladbrokes Championship)
24/10/2015: John Baird v Dumbarton (5-0, Ladbrokes Championship)
11/01/2020: Declan McManus v Peterhead (3-1, Ladbrokes League 1)
4 – Elgin City thumped Annan Athletic 4-0 at Galabank to move to within two points of their opponents in the battle for the final promotion play-off spot in Ladbrokes League 2. City also defeated the Galabankies 4-0 in their previous meeting at Borough Briggs back in November. Saturday’s success was only the fifth time Elgin have won an away league game by four or more goals since they joined the SFL in 2000.
Elgin’s four-goal away league wins
20/02/2010: Montrose 0-4 Elgin City (3rd Division)
24/09/2016: Stirling Albion 0-4 Elgin City (Ladbrokes League 2)
15/10/2016: Montrose 0-5 Elgin City (Ladbrokes League 2)
22/12/2018: Queen’s Park 0-4 Elgin City (Ladbrokes League 2)
11/01/2020: Annan Athletic 0-4 Elgin City (Ladbrokes League 2)
2 – Queen’s Park also moved to within two points of the promotion play-off spots in Ladbrokes League 2 thanks to a 2-1 win over Edinburgh City at Ainslie Park. The Spiders trailed 1-0 at half-time but goals from Billy Mortimer and Salim Kouider-Aissa handed them three points. Saturday’s win made it two wins out of two since Ray McKinnon took over – he is the first Queen’s Park manager to do this since Hugh McCann in 1995.
Starts of recent Queen’s Park managers
March 1995: Hugh McCann – W2 D0 L0
August 1997: Graeme Elder – W0 D1 L1
August 2002: John McCormack – W1 D0 L1
January 2003: Kenny Brannigan – W0 D1 L1
August 2004: Billy Stark – W1 D1 L0
January 2008: Gardner Speirs – W0 D0 L2
January 2014: Gus MacPherson – W0 D1 L1
September 2018: Mark Roberts – W0 D0 L2
January 2020: Ray McKinnon – W2 D0 L0
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