Kai Watson: The Play-Off Contenders Are Set
The last set of the fixtures in the regular seasons of the Championship, League One and League Two all happened this weekend and there was a lot still to settle! On Friday evening, before the games started, there were three teams that could have been relegated from the Championship.
Ross County were bottom, Airdrie were ninth and Morton sat in eight, with the latter two taking each other on at Cappielow. Each team knew that a win could mean that they would avoid automatic relegation so a lot was on the line in both Fife and Greenock.
Ross County struck first, scoring in the 16th minute against Raith which put them up to ninth and had Airdrie bottom of the table. Things remained the same until half-time but just three minutes into the second half, Airdrie took the lead against Morton meaning Airdrie moved into eight with Morton in ninth and Ross County back to the bottom.
The next big event was a blow for Airdrie as Lewis Strapp was sent off, making their quest for victory a lot more difficult. The next goal would go the way of Morton in the 72nd minute, pushing Airdrie back bottom as Ross County were still 1-0 up.
Just four minutes later, disaster for County and Stuart Kettlewell as Raith equalised and another four minutes later, Raith completed the turnaround and it seemed to be over. However, in the 96th minute, Ross County equalised, knowing a winner would send them ninth.
It wasn’t to be though as Akil Wright was sent off and Josh Mullin converted a penalty to make it 3-2 and seal their fate. Ross County were one of the favourites at the start of the season but they were relegated for the second consecutive season leaving Airdrie in the play-offs, AGAIN.
In League One, the promotion play-off teams were almost decided but a final day 4-1 victory for Queen of the South against Alloa meant they leapfrogged their opponents to finish third. The last play-off place would be either Inverness or Stenhousemuir with the other winning the league title. Inverness were 2-0 up on the 26th minute against ninth placed Hamilton and even though Stenny won 2-0 against Montrose, it wasn’t enough and Scott Kellacher’s side won the league.
Hamilton had a chance to pull out of the relegation play-off spot if they managed a win and East Fife didn’t but they had a tough task against the table toppers. Hamilton lost and East Fife drew 0-0, meaning Accies, after being deducted a total of 21 points, would need to beat the winners of the League Two play-offs to stay up.
In League Two, the title still had to be decided but it would’ve taken a big win for Spartans and for East Kilbride to get hammered by Clyde. East Kilbride took the lead within two minutes and were 3-0 up at half-time. Spartans were 0-0 at half-time, went 2-0 ahead before Stirling fought back to draw 2-2 and East Kilbride ended up winning 5-0 to secure the title.
The play-off spots at both ends had already been decided so it was only the title to play for in League Two.
What surprised you the most about the last matchday of the regular SPFL season?!
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