Newz Forum: SOCCER: Bank of Scotland Scottish Premier results 12/03/06

Hearts' attempt to claim second place in the Bank of Scotland Premier League suffered a setback as Inverness held the Tynecastle club to a goalless draw. Craig Gordon was the busier of the two goalkeepers and he produced two fine stops from Richie Hart eight minutes before the break. Roman Bednar had the best chance for Hearts with a 29th-minute shot which was well saved by Mark Brown.

Graham Rix's side are now only six points ahead of Rangers who ensured there was no European hangover when they handed out a 4-0 thrashing to Kilmarnock. Goals from Kris Boyd, Julien Rodriguez, Dado Prso and Peter Lovenkrands secured all three points in a game which also saw Killie goalkeeper Alan Combe pick up a late red card.

Dunfermline gave themselves the perfect send-off for next weekend's CIS Insurance Cup final with Celtic as they gave their hopes of avoiding relegation another boost by beating Aberdeen 1-0. Mark Burchill's strike only three minutes into the second half and a tremendous defensive display were enough to see off former boss Jimmy Calderwood's Aberdeen side. Substitute Jon Stewart tried and failed to bring the Dons level with a late shot which sailed over the crossbar.

A Scott McDonald double helped maintain Motherwell's push for a top-six place as they saw off Falkirk 3-1 at Fir Park. The Australian gave Well the lead in an uneventful first period and struck a glorious second within a minute of the restart, shortly before Richie Foran made it three. Falkirk hit back immediately through Patrick Cregg and threw men forward but Well gradually nullified their comeback attempts.

Dundee United claimed their first win in eight attempts under player-manager Craig Brewster as three second-half goals gave them a 3-1 victory over Livingston at Tannadice. The SPL bottom club had dominated for long spells and took a deserved half-time lead through Sam Morrow. But a second-half double from Lee Miller and another from Mark Kerr in a 12-minute spell gave the hosts the points.

Celtic, who top the table by 12 points, take on Hibernian at Easter Road on Sunday.

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