15 – Hibernian climbed to third place in the William Hill Premiership thanks to a 2-1 victory over Heart of Midlothian at Easter Road. Goals from Martin Boyle and Jack Iredale gave David Gray’s side’s their fifth consecutive home win. The Hibees are now unbeaten in 15 matches in all competitions, winning 11 and drawing four – their last defeat was on December 7 at Celtic Park. Hibs have won back-to-back Edinburgh derbies in the top flight for the first time since 2009, when Mixu Paatelainen led them to consecutive 1-0 victories thanks to goals from Stephen Fletcher at Easter Road and Derek Riordan at Tynecastle.
6 – Motherwell defeated Rangers 2-1 at Ibrox to move back into the top six of the William Hill Premiership. Luke Armstrong and Tom Sparrow scored the goals for Michael Wimmer’s side to move them above both Hearts and St Mirren in a congested battle for sixth spot. The Steelmen have picked up two wins out of three since Wimmer took over – they had previously recorded just one win in 11 matches. Rangers won the first meeting of 2024/25 at Hampden but this was Motherwell’s second consecutive win at Ibrox – the last time they managed this was between 1959 and 1961 where they actually won three in a row.
4 – Queen’s Park thumped Raith Rovers 4-0 at Stark’s Park to boost their hopes of a top-four finish in the William Hill Championship. Zak Rudden, Adam Devine, Adam Montgomery and Nikola Ujdur were all on the scoresheet as Callum Davidson’s side leapfrogged their opponents into fifth place. They are now just five points behind Partick Thistle with a game in hand. It was the Spiders’ first away league win since they beat Morton 1-0 in October, although they triumphed at Ibrox in the Scottish Cup last month. This was Queen’s Park’s biggest ever win in Kirkcaldy – in 56 previous visits they had never won by more than three goals.
3 – Stenhousemuir kept up the pressure at the top of William Hill League 1 with a 3-1 victory over Dumbarton at the Marbill Coaches Stadium. A Corey O’Donnell hat-trick in the first half ensured that Gary Naysmith’s side remain two points behind leaders Arbroath. O’Donnell is the fourth player to score a treble for the Warriors this season – Blair Alston, Euan O’Reilly and Matty Yates have also done so. O’Donnell is the first player to bag an away league hat-trick for Stenhousemuir since Colin McMenamin in a 3-2 win over Ayr United in 2014.
1 – Peterhead defeated Elgin City 2-0 at Balmoor to close the gap at the top of William Hill League 2 to one point. Andy McCarthy and Kieran Shanks scored the goals for the Blue Toon as they took advantage of East Fife’s 1-0 defeat at Stirling Albion. The victory ended Peterhead’s run of five league matches against Elgin without a victory – they hadn’t beaten them since September 2023. Ryan Strachan’s and Jordon Brown’s side have lost just one of their last nine league matches, picking up five wins and three draws.
.png){kind=logo}
