The Scotsman Football round-up - December 29 - video Dailymotion

The Scotsman

Mark Atkinson wraps up a busy afternoon of Premiership football.

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00:00Good evening, it's Mark Atkinson, Scotsman Sports Editor here, rounding up what has been

00:08a busy Sunday of football in the William Hill premiership. The festive football ceases to

00:16stop to be honest, we've got games every three days and the six that we were treated to today

00:22did not disappoint. It's always a question of where do you start? I suppose the big story

00:27comes at Fir Park where Motherwell took on Rangers. It finished two apiece, Motherwell

00:33went into a 2-0 lead and Rangers roared back with goals from Hamza Ighamam to give them

00:40a point but it doesn't really change the pressure on manager Philippe Clermont, in fact it probably

00:47almost intensifies it. Rangers slipping up once again away from home, they've really

00:52toiled this season in games outside of Ibrox and Clermont, well he raised eyebrows before

00:59the match with the team selection where he wrestled a number of key players due to fitness

01:04and illness issues and the players that he brought in just didn't do it for him. In the

01:09end Ighamam came off the bench and helped salvage a point but it doesn't really change

01:16the nature of where they are right now because Celtic won 4-0 against St Johnson to move

01:2214 points clear off Rangers at the top of the Premiership. That game was a very straightforward

01:27affair for Celtic, ending 2024 with just two defeats in the calendar year, that's really

01:32impressive for him. Brendan launched his team, managed it afterwards, he wants to add ominously

01:36more firepower to his team in January. What Philippe Clermont would give for more options

01:42and firepower at his disposal and I suppose more defenders because they just keep conceding

01:47goals. There was a moment as well where Motherwell made it 3-1 through Tony Watt only for the

01:53goal to be disallowed, a controversial moment that Stuart Kettlewell wasn't happy about.

01:57Of course Rangers and Celtic meet each other at Ibrox on January 2nd and if Celtic were

02:04to prevail there they'd move 17 points clear off Rangers and that surely would put Philippe

02:10Clermont in a very dangerous position if he's not already with the new chairman and chief

02:15executive only just in the door in Govan. In a strange way, not the worst results for

02:21Rangers elsewhere because they've moved actually a point further clear of Aberdeen, their third

02:26challengers behind them in third place because the Dons remarkably lost again, that's eight

02:31games in a row they've failed to register a victory. This one was a particularly sore

02:35denouement at Tannadice where they were facing their new firm rivals Dundee United, looked

02:41like a goalless draw but at the 94th minute a long throw-in came in and Kevin Holt headed

02:46home to send Tannadice into a state of delirium. Dundee United are really pushing for the European

02:53spots now, they've had a wonderful season, they're up into fourth place and hot on the

02:58heels of the Dons, Jim Cook have been doing a really impressive job since they returned

03:04to the top flight in the summer. Talking of good jobs, David Gray's hips motoring nicely,

03:10that's four wins in a row now after they defeated Kilmarnock 1-0 at the East Road.

03:14Nectar Treantis scored the only goal for the European team in the first half. There was

03:18a controversial moment in this match though when Killie's Danny Armstrong was sent off

03:22to Kilmarnock, they've had lots of red cards this season. This one was a second bookable

03:26offence, Armstrong lunging in to try and score at the back post after Jordan Smith had saved

03:31an effort but instead of getting the ball he kicked it to Jack Ardale and the referee

03:36gave him a second yellow. Derek McInnes was left in despair by the decision and claimed

03:44that hips were feeling anxious at that point. But you can't take anything away from David

03:48Gray's team, now up to 24 points, four game weeks ago they were bottom of the league but

03:53they are now really, really finding their stride and can look at the top six with some

03:59relish if they can keep up their form there. They're currently sitting seventh with three

04:02points behind Motherwell and St Mirren occupying the spots above them. St Mirren, a disappointing

04:11day for them, obviously the exertion between Rangers three days ago took their toll because

04:16Dundee won 2-1 at the Smiths Stadium. Simon Murray scored twice for Tony Docherty's men

04:22who responded emphatically to losing 3-0 to Ross County last time out. An important result

04:28for Dundee given that they've just started to slide down towards the bottom of the table

04:33St Mirren have had a good season so far but in the end that'll be a sore one for them.

04:38You'd imagine both teams are probably going to be going into the new year feeling reasonably

04:42confident about their fortunes. The same probably can't be said finally of Hartford and Lougheed

04:48for both because the, not necessarily the result of the day, but the drama of the day

04:55came in Dingwall. Harts were 2-0 up going into the 97th minute thanks to Dalton James

05:02only for Ross County to score two goals in the final two minutes of stoppage time to get a draw

05:09for Don Cowie's side. Craig Gordon at fault for the equaliser. I'm sure if I like a winner for

05:15Ross County fans, the equaliser scored by Jordan White. Neil Critchley bemoaned a crazy end to

05:22the game but the Harts boss is coming under serious pressure as the Jambos continue to stutter

05:29under his watch. They're expecting to bring in a number of players earlier in the transfer window.

05:35They've been linked heavily with Elton Kabongu who is a forward at Dalton's side,

05:39Younes Sancho was and while Wilson has taken his two goals well today, Harts definitely need more

05:45options. Laurence Shanklin missed the match with a calf injury and Harts just need to pick up some

05:50form of momentum because they currently sit in 11th place, two points behind the Staggies and

05:55three points clear of St Johnson who prop up the table. Had they won, the table would look very

06:01different and they'd go into the new year with a bit more confidence and momentum. So there it is,

06:05another really, really busy, eventful, action-packed day of Scottish football. We'll have all the

06:12comment, analysis and reaction on the website and also in the paper.

06:17Bye for now and enjoy the rest of your Sunday night.

The Scotsman Football round-up - December 29

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