Fear the Raith of rampant Rovers

"They'll be dancing in the streets of Raith tonight." The immortal words broadcast on the BBC in the 1960s after a Raith Rovers victory may have been on the tip of a few commentators' tongues on Saturday after the Kirkcaldy side reached the last four of the Scottish Cup for the first time in 47 years.

RESULTS: SPL â Sat Mar 13 Falkirk 1-2 St Johnstone, Hamilton 1-0 St Mirren, Motherwell 3-1 Hearts. Scottish Cup Quarter-Finals â Sat Mar 13 Dundee 1-2 Raith, Hibernian 2-2 Ross County, Kilmarnock 0-3 Celtic Sun Mar 14 Rangers 3-3 Dundee United

Fortunately there was no such blunder on the airwaves this time around but those that follow the Stark's Park side will have undoubtedly celebrated their 2-1 quarter-final victory over Dundee long into the night.

John McGlynn's side chose the right game to come out of the traps flying, going two up within 10 minutes of the kick-off thanks to goals from Stephen Simmons and Laurie Ellis. Craig Forsyth pulled a goal back for Dundee but Raith heroically held on for a famous victory.


McGlynn shows a lot of bottle

The Fifers may not be the only Scottish Football League side in the competition's last four after Ross County's impressive 2-2 draw with Hibernian at Easter Road earned them a replay at Dingwall. The First Division side could easily have scored a third in the closing stages of the match, providing further evidence for those in favour of expanding the SPL.

FEATURE:How to save Scottish football

Dundee United also earned a replay after coming back from two goals behind to draw 3-3 with Rangers. The Arabs looked on course for another 7-1 humiliation at Ibrox when Nacho Novo put the Gers 3-1 ahead but Peter Houston's side showed their resilience and desire to remain in the cup with Mihael Kovacevic nodding home an equaliser 10 minutes from time.

Neither Rangers nor Hibernian will fancy their trips up north for their quarter-final re-runs and it wouldn't be a huge surprise if at least one of them exited the competition.

Elsewhere, Robbie Keane showed why he is sadly too good for Scottish football with a sublime hat-trick for Celtic to end Kilmarnock's cup hopes. The Irishman has now netted eight goals in eight games for the Hoops, for whom the Scottish Cup now appears the only genuine chance of silverware.


Celtic's hunt for silver focuses in one spot

In the SPL, it was a crucial day at the bottom of the table with Falkirk and St Mirren both losing ground in the fight for survival. A late Kenny Deuchar lob gave St Johnstone a 2-1 win at the Falkirk Stadium to keep the Bairns rooted to the foot of the SPL table.

Meanwhile, Portuguese striker Flavio Paixao scored a priceless injury-time winner for Hamilton in a 1-0 victory over the Buddies. St Mirren are now precariously placed only four points above Falkirk, while Hamilton know a win over the Bairns on Saturday will go a long way to ensuring their SPL safety.

In the only other SPL match it was another routine victory for Craig Brown's Motherwell over Hearts. Broony's men are yet to taste defeat in 2010 and are now up to fourth in the league.

Scottish Football League Round Up
You'd have been kicking yourself if you'd left the Excelsior Stadium early on Saturday. Both goals came in injury time as Airdrie United and Ayr United battled to a 1-1 draw in a dramatic First Division relegation battle.

Inverness Caley Thistle moved to within three points of league leaders Dundee with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Morton, while Dunfermline also kept their slim title hopes alive with a fine 3-1 win over Queen of the South.

In the Second Division, Brechin City lost their first home match in all competitions with a 2-0 defeat to local rivals Arbroath. Alloa and Cowdenbeath kept up their pursuit of the title with wins over Stirling and Clyde.

Livingston edged closer to the Third Division title with a 1-0 win at Elgin City, while Annan Athletic came from a goal behind to thrash Forfar Athletic 5-1.

It's been a good week for... John McGlynn. After masterminding the downfall of Aberdeen in the previous round, he watched his side run out worthy winners over Dundee on Saturday.

It's been a bad week for... Tam Scobbie. The Falkirk defender's dreadful error allowed Kenny Deuchar to net a late winner for St Johnstone. Scobbie will be desperate to make amends when his side face fellow SPL strugglers Hamilton next week.

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