1 – St Johnstone defeated Motherwell 1-0 at McDiarmid Park to move into the 5th Round of the Scottish Cup. Makenzie Kirk’s early goal was enough to hand Simo Valakari’s side their first victory in 10 matches – they had drawn two and lost seven since beating Kilmarnock in November. It was Saints’ first win in the Scottish Cup since they won the final in 2021 – they had suffered 1-0 defeats in Round 4 in each of the last three seasons. The victory also ended a run of five games without a win over the Steelmen in Perth – they had drawn three and lost two since beating Motherwell 2-1 in March 2022.
3 – Livingston pulled off the biggest shock of the Scottish Cup weekend by beating Ross County 3-2 after extra time at the Global Energy Stadium. Andrew Shinnie’s 119th-minute winner sent David Martindale’s side into Round 5 after Robbie Muirhead and Cristian Montano had twice given them the lead in normal time. This was just Livingston’s second Scottish Cup win over top-flight opposition in the last 20 years – the other one also came against in 2021/22.
8 – Ayr United progressed to Round 5 of the Scottish Cup courtesy of an emphatic 8-0 victory over Broxburn Athletic at Albyn Park. Jay Henderson netted a hat-trick and Lenny Agbaire, Mark McKenzie, George Oakley, Jake Hastie and Dylan Watret were also on the scoresheet for Scott Brown’s side. This was the Honest Men’s biggest-ever away win in national competition – though they did also beat Girvan 8-0 in the Ayrshire Cup in 1985. The last time Ayr scored eight goals in a game was over 65 years ago, when they defeated Montrose 8-2 at Somerset Park in the league. Ayr keeper Harry Stone has now kept five consecutive clean sheets in all competitions.
3 – Inverness Caledonian Thistle defeated Annan Athletic 3-0 at Galabank to take another step closer to safety in William Hill League 1. Alfie Bavidge, Keith Bray and Billy Mckay found the net for Scott Kellacher’s side as they closed the gap on 8th-placed Annan to just four points, with a game in hand. Inverness had already suffered two defeats away to Annan this season, in the League Cup and first league meeting, but finally picked up their first win at Galabank on Saturday. The Caley Jags have won six of their last eight league games as they seek to overcome their 15-point deduction to retain their League 1 status.
5 – East Fife remain top of William Hill League 2 thanks to a 2-0 victory over Stranraer at Stair Park. Jack Healy and Alan Trouten scored in the first half to hand Dick Campbell’s side a victory which keeps them two points clear of Peterhead at the summit. Trouten has 16 league goals for the season – Edinburgh City’s Connor Young (18 goals) is the only player who has scored more than him in the entire SPFL. The Fifers have now recorded five consecutive victories – this is their best run of league wins since September-October 2018, when Darren Young led them to six in a row in League 1.
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