Ladbrokes Premiership: Celtic and Staggies run riot on final weekend
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Ronny Deila took charge of Celtic for the final time at the weekend and if the Bhoys had played with the ruthlessness they showed against Motherwell throughout the season the Dane may very well not be leaving at all.
Bhoys fans can look forward to the new season – and a renewed rivalry with Rangers – with great confidence after the Hoops not only turned on the style but also saw their youngest ever debutant score with his first touch.
Kieran Tierney (21), Tom Rogic (26), Mikael Lustig(28), Stuart Armstrong (50), Patrick Roberts (54), and Ryan Christie (59) had put the Bhoys six goals to the good before the introduction of Jack Aitchison at the age of 16 years and 71 days.
And the striker announced his arrival on the big stage by netting with his first touch on 71 minutes to seal an emphatic win for the champions.
There were plenty of goals elsewhere too, with Ross County impressing with a 4-0 win over second place Aberdeen.
Brian Graham had the visitors 1-0 up after converting a 23rd-minute penalty before Alex Schalk’s awesome overhead kick doubled the advantage after 45 minutes. Liam Boyce put the game beyond doubt with 20 minutes remaining and Martin Woods added insult to injury just 10 minutes later to end a four-game winless run for the Staggies.
There were also four goals at Tynecastle but Hearts and St Johnstone had to settle for a point apiece. The Saints raced into a 2-0 lead after Liam Craig (nine) and Graham Cummins (12) silenced the Edinburgh crowd but the Jam Tarts, who equalised through Arnaud Djoum (17) and a Joe Shaughnessy own goal (20), could have gone on to claim all three points but for Abiola Dauda’s red card shortly after the restart.
Inverness and Dundee kept up the run of four-goal games with Caley dominating the Dees to win 4-0.
A tight first half proved a poor indicator of what was to come and when Miles Storey opened the scoring after the hour the floodgates well and truly opened. Danny Devine made it two just eight minutes later and Ross Draper extended the hosts’ lead three minutes after that. Richie Foran then slotted home an 84th-minute penalty to complete a miserable afternoon for the Dark Blues.
Partick thought they were on course to sign off with a win after Kris Doolan put Thistle one up after just three minutes but Hamilton’s Eamonn Brophy had other ideas.
His 10th-minute penalty levelled proceedings and after David Ammo restored the hosts’ lead on 19 minutes Brophy struck just seconds later to snatch a point for the travelling Accies.
And finally, in the game with arguably the most riding on it, Kilmarnock ‘s chances of going into their relegation play-off with Falkirk in high spirits were dashed by a 4-2 drubbing at home to already-relegated Dundee United.
The Terrors went 1-0 up through Mark Durnan but were 2-1 down by the break thanks to goals from Kallum Higginbotham (27) and Tope Obadayi (34).
That was as good as it got for Killie, however as a Simon Murray brace (73, 82) and a late strike from Harry Souttar ensured that Ray McKinnon’s men will approach their Championship campaign with some much-needed confidence next term.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
