SPL Round Up: 16-17th Feb 08

Celtic keep up the pressure with victory over Hearts; Rangers respond to go 4 points clear at the expense of Killie; Falkirk break into top 6 after thumping St Mirren 4-0; Hibernian capitalise on Aberdeen's Euro hangover; Motherwell win away at Fir Park against Gretna; Caley hold Dundee United in Inverness.

Rangers kept their 4 point at the top of the SPL thanks to a 2-0 victory over lowly Kilmarnock. Gers defender Cuellar gave the away side the lead after Killie failed to clear their lines. Kris Boyd's penalty following Hamill's handball sealed the points for Rangers, but they suffered a scare moments earlier when Papac was on hand to clear Allan Johnston's goalbound effort off the line.

This was after Celtic had narrowed the gap to 1 point on Saturday, after a convincing 3-0 win over Heart of Midlothian. Some excellent work by McGeady gave Venegoor of Hesselink the easiest of tap-ins to open the scoring. McDonald then grabbed his 24th goal of the season after the break with a neat header. The victory was wrapped up when Andreas Hinkel's narrow drive found it's way past Banks in goal.

Falkirk hammered St Mirren 4-0 at home to leap into the top 6. In truth, the scoreline flattered the Bairns, who mainly had to thank a poor performance from Buddies' 'keeper Mark Howard for their goals. Arfield's header gave Falkirk the lead before Howard let his second-half shot slip between his legs. Cregg headed into an open goal after Howard's weak clearing punch, and then struck home his second with a beautifully angled shot.

Hibs came from a goal down to beat Aberdeen 3-1 at Easter Road and leapfrog them in the SPL table. Zander Diamond gave the Dons the lead in the first half after lashing home in the area. But come the second period the home side equalised when Zemmama struck a superb 25 yard free kick, and then Dean Shiels put them ahead. Steven Fletcher wrapped up things at the death with a header following Rankin's pinpoint cross.

Gretna took another step towards returning to the First Division following their 3-1 loss to Motherwell. Ross McCormack helped himself to a double in what was a deserved win for the

Steelmen. Chris Porter got Well's other goal from a cool chip, while Gretna's solitary strike came from a Brendan McGill tap-in.

Finally, Inverness drew 1-1 with Dundee Utd after a relatively dull encounter in the Highlands. Prince Bauben gave the Tangerines the lead on 67 minutes from 1 yard out, only for Caley to equalise through Markus Paatelainen after he nipped in front of the 'keeper to fire into an empty net.