Gallagher of St. Mirren

By FOS Editor
February 26 2011

Hearts goalless draw at Pittodrie saw them miss out on a chance to briefly move to second place, while at the bottom Hamilton moved a point closer to St. Mirren

In the early kick off Aberdeen and Hearts cancelled each other out as both were denied a third SPL win in a row in an entertaining game at Pittodrie.

Once again, Hearts had Marian Kello to thank for a point, the goalkeeper saving superbly from Sone Aluko then denying Rory McArdle and Chris Maguire.

Rudi Skacel tested Aberdeen goalkeeper Jamie Langfield after the break. But Aberdeen were the more fluent side with Ryan Jack missed a good chance and sub Nick Blackman had a fine effort saved.

However, the home side were unable to force what would have been their first run of three successive league victories since December 2008.

A late header from Andis Shala denied struggling Hamilton Accies their first home win of season. Mickael Antoine-Curier converted a penalty on 33 minutes after Gavin Skelton had been caught by the outstretched boot of Prince Buaben.

David Goodwillie, Johnny Russell and David Robertson all spurned close-range chances for United in the first half. But substitute Shala came to their rescue when he steered in an impressive header from Craig Conway's delivery.

The draw leaves rock-bottom Accies seven points adrift of 11th-placed St Mirren in the Scottish Premier League, while United continue to hover in mid-table with a number of games to catch up on.

Hibernian claimed a fourth successive SPL win after overcoming Inverness at Easter Road. The hosts came close to breaking the deadlock just after the half-hour mark, when Victor Palsson's header was cleared off the line by Russell Duncan.

But Callum Booth did find the net for Hibs with a stunning strike into the top corner in the 58th minute. Ross Tokely missed a good chance to level before Lewis Stevenson's deflected shot sealed Hibs' win.

Hibs, now 13 points clear of bottom club Hamilton, remain in 10th place but are edging towards top-six contention, while the Highlanders missed the chance to move up one spot to fifth.

William Gros marked his first start for Kilmarnock by scoring one goal and setting up another for Alexei Eremenko as Kilmarnock defeated St Mirren.

It was an Eremenko through ball that allowed Gros to score with a neat finish after 13 minutes at Rugby Park. Eremenko picked up a Gros pass before deceiving goalkeeper Paul Gallacher from 20 yards in the 29th minute.