6 – Kilmarnock cruised into round five of the Scottish Cup thanks to a 6-0 victory over Queen’s Park at Rugby Park. Veteran winger Chris Burke was in imperious form, setting up all six goals to put their Ladbrokes League 2 opponents to the sword. It was Killie’s biggest winning margin in over 20 years – they hadn’t beaten anyone by six or more goals since they thumped Dunfermline Athletic 6-0 at East End Park in April 1999. You have to go even further back for Killie’s last six-goal victory at Rugby Park – that was a 6-0 win against Clydebank in April 1993.
Killie scoring six since 1990
10/04/1991 – Meadowbank Thistle 1-8 Kilmarnock (1st Division)
03/04/1993 – Kilmarnock 6-0 Clydebank (1st Division)
17/04/1999 – Dunfermline Athletic 0-6 Kilmarnock (SPL)
05/04/2003 – Kilmarnock 6-2 Hibernian (SPL)
25/08/2010 – Kilmarnock 6-2 Airdrieonians (League Cup)
18/01/2020 – Kilmarnock 6-0 Queen’s Park (Scottish Cup)
3 – Motherwell defeated Dundee 3-0 at Dens Park to seal their spot in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup. The Steelmen have now recorded eight consecutive victories over the Dee in all competitions, a run which stretches back to the start of 2018. Chris Long was the Motherwell hero, netting his first career hat-trick, and the first scored by any Motherwell player since Elliott Frear in a 5-0 win over Edinburgh City in the Betfred Cup in July 2018. The last Motherwell player to net a hat-trick in the Scottish Cup was Andy Harrow, in a 3-0 win over Queen’s Park in February 1984.
Motherwell hat-tricks since 2010
10/11/2010: Nick Blackman (Motherwell 4-0 St Johnstone, SPL)
22/02/2012: Michael Higdon (Motherwell 4-3 Hibernian, SPL)
02/09/2012: Michael Higdon (Motherwell 4-1 Inverness CT, SPL)
20/01/2013: Michael Higdon (Motherwell 3-2 St Johnstone, SPL)
17/09/2016: Louis Moult (Motherwell 4-2 Hamilton, Ladbrokes Premiership) [4 goals]
17/07/2018: Elliott Frear (Motherwell 5-0 Edinburgh City, Betfred Cup)
18/01/2020: Chris Long (Dundee 0-3 Motherwell, Scottish Cup)
1 – Ayr United sealed their place in round five by beating Ladbrokes Premiership side Ross County 1-0 at Somerset Park. The Honest Men were the only lower-league side to eliminate top-flight opposition, though Dundee United will have another opportunity to beat Hibernian in a replay. It was Ayr’s first win over Ross County in 15 matches – they had lost 11 and drawn three of their previous 14. Saturday’s success was Ayr’s first Scottish Cup win over top-flight opposition since they eliminated Hibernian nine years ago to the day.
Ayr United’s Scottish Cup wins v top-flight opposition since 1980
14/02/1998 – Ayr United 2-0 Kilmarnock
23/01/1999 – Ayr United 3-0 Kilmarnock
26/01/2002 – Ayr United 3-0 Dunfermline Athletic
06/03/2002 – Ayr United 2-0 Dundee United
18/01/2011 – Ayr United 1-0 Hibernian
18/01/2020 – Ayr United 1-0 Ross County
8 – Inverness Caledonian Thistle defeated Alloa Athletic 3-2 to seal their place in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup. The Caley Jags have now reached at least the fifth round in 10 of the last 11 seasons, including winning the trophy back in 2015. Their only defeat at this stage in the last decade came against Dundee in 2017/18. Saturday’s success extended their unbeaten run against the Wasps to eight matches in all competitions; five wins and three draws.
The Caley Jags’ unbeaten run v Alloa
25/08/2018 – Inverness CT 2-2 Alloa Athletic (Championship)
27/10/2018 – Alloa Athletic 0-0 Inverness CT (Championship)
26/03/2019 – Inverness CT 3-2 Alloa Athletic (Championship)
27/04/2019 – Alloa Athletic 1-2 Inverness CT (Championship)
12/10/2019 – Inverness CT 3-0 Alloa Athletic (Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Cup)
19/10/2019 – Inverness CT 2-2 Alloa Athletic (Championship)
30/11/2019 – Alloa Athletic 0-2 Inverness CT (Championship)
18/01/2020 – Alloa Athletic 2-3 Inverness CT (Championship)
11 – Cove Rangers moved five points clear at the top of the Ladbrokes League 2 table thanks to a 3-1 victory over Cowdenbeath at Balmoral Stadium. Rory McAllister netted on his debut for Cove, with Mitch Megginson and Jamie Masson adding the other goals. Paul Hartley’s side have now recorded 11 consecutive home wins in all competitions, which is by far the best current run of any side in the SPFL.
Longest current home winning streaks in all competitions
11 – Cove Rangers
4 - Livingston
3 – Aberdeen
2 - Cowdenbeath
2 – Rangers
2 – St Mirren
