SPL Roundup - 10th May

Another exciting week in the SPL as we head towards the dramatic finish. Rangers do what Rangers do, Motherwell are almost assured of third spot and Gretna pull of a result against all (well, at least my) expectations.

The life of a soccer pundit is always fraught with the unpredictability of a simple game of football. This week goes to show that form guides count for nothing and a fair wind, a good slice of luck and shit refereeing count for everything.

My predictions going into the Saturday where as follows:

Motherwell 3 - 2 Aberdeen
Rangers    1 - 0 Dundee United
Falkirk    1 - 3 Inverness CT
Hearts     2 - 0 Kilmarnock
St Mirren  3 - 0 Gretna

How it actually turned out, was this:

Motherwell 2 - 1 Aberdeen
Rangers    3 - 1 Dundee United
Falkirk    2 - 1 Inverness CT
Hearts     0 - 2 Kilmarnock
St Mirren  0 - 0 Gretna

So not a single score-line right, but at least I predicted the correct winners in 2 out of the 5. Pretty poor no?

Rangers 3 - 1 Dundee United

Rangers moved to within a point of leaders Celtic following their early game against Dundee United in front of a pretty meager 30,000 crowd at Ibrox. NAcho Novo struck home on seven minutes to open the scoring before adding a second 10 minutes later. United struck back through De Vries before Darcheville made the points safe just before the final whistle.

Controversy aplenty though as United where denied a stonewall penalty when Hunt was brought down by Davie Weir, and then had a goal disallowed when Swanson’s shot was deflected of a Rangers player and into the net, but the linesman waved for offside.

Rangers next play Zenit St Petersburg before returning to face Motherwell. United’s next game is at home to Celtic on the 22nd May.

Falkirk 2 - 1 Inverness CT

The 5,600 or so who turned up at the Falkirk Stadium to see this mid-table struggle watched the home side complete a comfortable victory in this, their last home game of the season. Michael Higdon and Carl Finnigan scored for the home side, while Barry Wilson pulled one back from the penalty spot after Thomas Scobie scythed him down in the penalty box.

Falkirk next play Kilmarnock, while Inverness travel to St Mirren. Both games are on the 17th May

Hearts 0 - 2 Kilmarnock

Now here’s a game I got completely wrong.

With all the form guides, previous results, a look at the players on both sides, I was sure Hearts where going to get three points here. But it was Kilmarnock who got their first win since March when Grant Murray headed in a David Fernandez corner in the 74th minute, before Paul Di Giacomo added a second 5 minutes from time when he got on the end of a Paul Dalglish cross.

Hearts face Gretna next, hoping to get at least some points there, while Kilmarnock face Falkirk.

St Mirren 0 - 0 Gretna

God, this must have been awful. Some solid Gretna defending, along with practically nil chances for either team saw both teams share the points. Even the opportunity to avenge their 6-1 gubbing last week failed to motivate the Gretna team, while St  Mirren must rue their dropped points. Not that any of it matters of course, but when you’ve got a chance to bang a few in and have some fun you really should take your chances - when they come.

Gretna play Hearts in their last game of the season (and possibly ever), while St Mirren play Inverness.

League Table

Celtic still lead the table by 1 point, but they play Hibs tomorrow. Motherwell secure third spot with their win at Aberdeen. United’s loss to Rangers pretty much ends their chances, while Hibs must beat Celtic to stand any chance of making third spot.

             P  Pts GD
Celtic       36 83 +55
Rangers      35 82 +50
Motherwell   36 56 +2
Hibernian    36 52 +8
Dundee Utd   37 52 +7
Aberdeen     37 50 -10
Falkirk      37 49 -3
Hearts       37 48 -7
Inverness CT 37 42 -11
St Mirren    36 40 -25
Kilmarnock   37 37 -14
Gretna       37 10 -52