Motherwell 4 Inverness C.T. 1
Birthday boy Michael Higdon celebrated with a hat-trick to send Motherwell to the top of the table. Higdon, 29 on Sunday, saw Tom Hateley open the scoring direct from a corner-kick then added the second from Chris Humphrey's pass. Caley pulled one back when Richie Foran out-muscled Jon Page to score but 'Well made it 3-1 when Higdon fired in after David Raven's poor pass-back. The striker completed his treble from Henrik Ojamaa's cut-back. Caley missed a late penalty when Andrew Shinnie's kick was saved by Darren Randolph.
Hearts 0 Dundee 1
Hearts came back to earth after their Anfield heroics when they went down to bottom club Dundee. Ryan Conroy's second-minute penalty - after Marius Zaliukas' tug on Colin Nish - turned out to be the difference between the sides. But the visitors had veteran 'keeper Rab Douglas to thank with a series of fine stops, including a 27th minute penalty save from John Sutton, awarded after Lewis Toshney's foul on Ryan McGowan. Hearts brought on new signing Ryan Stevenson and Andy Driver but were unable to get back into the match. The win lifts Barry Smith's side up to tenth in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League table.
Aberdeen 0 St Mirren 0
Aberdeen have still to score in 270 home minutes this season after St Mirren extended their unbeaten away record in a Pittodrie stalemate. Home frontman Josh Magennis had a header cleared off the St Mirren line and sub Cammy Smith saw another effort come back off the bar. Scott Vernon had the chance to win it for Aberdeen in the closing minutes but blasted over the bar.
Celtic 2 Hibernan 2
Celtic missed the chance to open a gap over Hibs when they were twice pegged back by the Easter Road side. The home side totally dominated the first-half with Gary Hooper hitting both crossbar and post but they only had Mikael Lustig’s crisp finish from Paddy McCourt’s corner-kick to show for their domination. Hibs had barely been in it but a mix-up between Fraser Forster and Lustig early in the second-half gave Tim Clancy a simple chance for his first Hibs goal. Celtic restored their lead when Ben Williams fumbled Filip Twardzik’s free-kick and Lustig bundled in the rebound. But Hibs took advantage of more slack home defending and Paul Cairney advanced to beat Forster with an angled finish. Celtic introduced new signings Efe Ambrose and Miku Fedor before the game and boss Neil Lennon hopes to add Tunisian striker Lassad Nouioui to his squad.
Ross County 0 Kilmarnock 0
County stretched their unbeaten league run to 39 games but it was a disappointing encounter. Iain Vigurs flashed a shot wide and the home side’s Marc Fitzpatrick and Alex Cooper couldn’t convert close-range chances as County pressed. Killie's Borja Perez threatened with a long-range shot just before the break, while Rory McKenzie had the game's best chance after the break but the Kilmarnock forward failed to beat Michael Fraser.
St Johnstone 0 Dundee United 0
Saints stayed second-bottom of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League and are still searching for their first win of the season after a Tayside derby stalemate. John Rankin’s drive wide was practically the only effort in a poor first-half but Saints threatened more after the interval. Gregory Tade should have done better when he shot wide from the edge of the six-yard box from Murray Davidson's through header, then Nigel Hasselbaink forced a save from United ‘keeper Radoslaw Cierniak, with Rowan Vine firing the rebound over. But there was no way for either side to make the breakthrough. St Johnstone have signed striker Steven MacLean and are hopeful of midfielder Mark Kerr joining him.
By cbfootball.co.uk Last updated:
03 September 2012