Pat Answers A Fir Park Prayer .sx MOTHERWELL 5 , HIBS 1 .sx ( Half-time- 2-1 .sx ) .sx DELIGHTFUL !sx When Motherwell play like this that's the only possible way to describe them .sx And , glory be , they now have somebody to stick them in the net .sx Sure , big Pat Delaney missed some pinches .sx About a dozen as a conservative estimate .sx But he scored three goals , laid on one , hit the post with a header , and had two more net-stretchers disallowed for infringements .sx So altogether you can say Jimmy Delaney's boy had a reasonably successful afternoon .sx There was a laugh before the start when 'Well skipper Willie McSeveney came out some 20 yards ahead of his team mates .sx It looked for a moment as if he were going to tackle Hibs single-handed .sx From the final score , you might think he could have done , at that .sx Not so .sx Until they were latterly demoralised by the jinking homesters , this was quite a good Hibs team .sx Lack of forward cohesion was the rock on which they foundered .sx A Bobby Young " goal " disallowed for offside in the fifth minute set the game alight .sx But the first legitimate counter went to Hibs .sx Weir stopped a Stevenson shot , dropped it , then scooped it out straight to Preston , who drove home through a crowded goalmouth .sx A deft Delaney header from a McPhee cross restored equality .sx Then came tragedy for Simpson , who had executed wonder saves from Hunter , Delaney , and McPhee .sx A long , down-the-middle ball eluded Preston and Delaney .sx Simpson ran out , completely missed his kick , and Delaney walked it home .sx After the turn 'Well ran riot .sx Roberts shivered the bar .sx Shots flew everywhere around Simpson's goal .sx Delaney wrapped number three up in silver paper for McPhee .sx Next Pat netted an " offside " one .sx Then he sent Young off , and was in position to capitalise the youngster's cross .sx And in the last minute Pat rocketed home another , only to find the whistle had gone for a penalty for Baird fouling Quinn .sx Pat Quinn , as is his custom , made no mistake with the spot kick .sx Quinn has been called " the little General .sx " Here he was a combination of Montgomery , Napoleon , Horrocks , and all the Generals you ever heard of .sx Just a hair's-breadth behind was Willie Hunter .sx Thomson was a topper , too .sx And Delaney , of course .sx But 'Well really hadn't a failure .sx The home crowd goosed Sammy Baird unmercifully for a few minor indiscretions .sx But Sam , along with Grant , Easton , and Simpson , was a real Hibs stalwart .sx Yes , Simpson .sx Never mind that second goal .sx Crowd- 5500 .sx LOCAL BOY MAKES GOOD- WITH A HAT-TRICK .sx DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC 6 , AIRDRIE 2 .sx ( Half-time- 1-0 .sx ) .sx WHAT a dream debut for young 19-year-old Jackie Sinclair !sx Playing his first League game before the home crowd , the ex-Blairhall junior , who lives in Dunfermline , scored a glorious hat-trick and fitted into the scheme of things perfectly .sx Sure , he still has a bit to go- but one thing he CAN do is put the ball in the net , and that's good enough to go on with .sx Take a good look at the names of the other goal-scorers .sx Not a solitary from Messrs Charles Dickson and his inside-forward cronies .sx This is no criticism of the trio , but it illustrates how potentially good this Dunfermline team can be .sx It took them a long time to get the first goal , but the writing was always on the wall , and once they found the net there was no stopping them .sx Two Airdrie goals within a minute of each other late in the second half jolted them , but that was all .sx These goals apart , all Airdrie had to offer was a stout-hearted defence and excellent sportsmanship .sx They were outmanoeuvred all along , but refused to go under and never stooped to a shady action .sx After a first half of frustration , young Sinclair showed the way .sx Just on the half-time whistle he hit a Cunningham free-kick past Dempster close to the near post .sx After the interval , Miller scored the best goal of the game .sx Over came a Melrose corner .sx The left-half ran a good 15 yards from around the penalty spot and his header flew into the net .sx TWO BEAUTIES .sx Then George Peebles decided to take a hand .sx Within five minutes he fired a couple of beauties into the net .sx Sinclair finished off the Dunfermline scoring .sx First he hit a left-footer cleanly into the net , and then sank a penalty like a veteran after Shanks had handled his first shot , which finished over the line .sx Storrie and Hinshelwood were the Airdrie scorers .sx Both beat Connachan from around the 20-yard mark .sx No criticism of the Dunfermline defence- they were never stretched .sx All three halves were immense while the forward line , switching and changing , had a real field day .sx Very few bouquets for Airdrie .sx Say Johnstone , McNeil , and Newlands earned pass marks , and that's about it .sx Crowd- 8000 .sx CLYDE STAGE A FADE-OUT .sx ALBION ROVERS 2 , CLYDE 3 .sx ( Half-time- 0-3 ) .sx FOR the first 15 minutes Clyde showed why they are favourites for a return to the big time .sx In that period they shattered Rovers' defence with three snappy goals .sx But for the remaining 75 minutes they proceeded to show why they have faltered in recent weeks .sx Slackness and complacency allowed Rovers to come right back into the picture with two good goals , and for the last 15 minutes Clyde were a worried lot .sx LEARY STARS .sx Main reason for the sway of fortune centred round Dennis Leary , the Rovers' pivot .sx After a disastrous start he found his feet , and from then on his wing halves , Harvey and McLure , got to grips with the attack , and the early Shawfield promise faded completely .sx McLaughlin capably led Clyde's attack in the early spell and had two good goals in 5 and 15 minutes .sx Between times , big John Colrain , who finished limping on the wing , got the other goal- in the 7th minute .sx Stewart led the Coatbridge rally to score in the 72nd minute , and Livingstone made up the brace six minutes later .sx Crowd- 1000 .sx UNITED HAD THEIR FANS IN A SWEAT .sx DUNDEE UNITED 2 , STIRLING ALBION 0 .sx ( Half-time- 0-0 .sx ) .sx ALBION look doomed for a slide back to the second grade .sx Certainly they're already playing Second Division football .sx They were all triers , but they had no plan , no science , no cohesion , in fact , not a clue .sx And , worse still , they brought United down to the same dreadful level .sx Some of the attempts at ball control and passing were positively ludicrous .sx For 81 minutes this hopeless spectacle shaped like a goalless draw because over-anxious United , with all the territorial advantage , didn't seem to know how to circumvent a desperate defence .sx First " goal , " in six minutes came for Albion from Rowan , but the winger was obviously offside .sx Somewhat laboriously the Tannadice team built up attack after attack .sx There was little fluency in their movements , and certainly no finish .sx Carlyle and Gillespie missed inviting chances .sx Then Neil Mochan tingled Jim Brown's fingers .sx Again the goalie saved the Albion bacon when he fisted over a whizzer from Dennis Gillespie .sx The once-in-a-while Stirling raids came mainly through Kilgannon and Rowan , for not one of the inside trio measured up to anything like First Division standard .sx The encouraging Tannadice howl had become a despairing " Och , come on , United " groan before Tommy Neilson made the vocalists happy by beating Brown .sx Like magic , the strain left the team .sx Mochan swerved a ball to Walter Carlyle five minutes later , and the centre settled the destination of the points .sx GORDON IN FORM .sx Good players were extremely scarce .sx Albion were well served by Brown and Weir in the rear .sx Only Myles , Kilgannon , and Rowan made attacking sorties .sx Of the home lot , Alex .sx Brown was practically unemployed , Gordon the best back afield , Neilson the only half-back with any finesse , and Gillespie the only real footballer in either front line .sx Bonar came by a knee injury and swopped wings with Mochan .sx This didn't help to improve the game , which should be quickly forgotten .sx Crowd- 7000 .sx Tight Defence Foils Morton .sx ALLOA 2 , MORTON 1 .sx ( Half-time- 1-0 .sx ) .sx A HARD game , with both sides giving everything they had .sx The Wasps had that extra sting , which earned them victory .sx For the first 20 minutes they were on top and Foley gave them a deserved lead .sx Then Morton came more and more into the game , but had nothing to show for it .sx McKenna put Alloa further ahead in the second half in a breakaway raid .sx But Easson cancelled that seven minutes later .sx From then it was a question of whether Morton could equalise .sx They might have , but poor finishing robbed them of goals .sx And they were foiled by a watertight home defence .sx Hodge , E. Docherty , Vint , and J. Docherty all deserve mention for Alloa with Smith outstanding at centre-forward .sx For Morton , Boyd , Franks , and Cowie stood out in a hard , fighting combine , and Jackie Ferguson and Allan McGraw can fly back to Germany feeling they didn't let the side down either .sx Crowd- 2000 .sx TEST MATCH RECORD .sx AFTER Ted Dexter had won the toss , England's opening pair , Geoff Pullar and Peter Richardson , gave them a fine start in the first test against India at Bombay with an opening partnership of 159 .sx This beat the previous best opening against India- 146 by Pullar and Gilbert Parkhouse at Leeds in 1959 .sx By the close of play England had scored 288 for the loss of three wickets .sx Then Up Popped Patterson .sx MONTROSE 2 , QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 3 .sx ( Half-time- 2-0 ) .sx MONTROSE sacrificed everything in a bid for two points which would have hoisted them into second place .sx Having taken two first-half goals , they sat back with that " what we have we hold " attitude .sx What a mistake it proved to be .sx In seven minutes Queen's transformed things .sx Big Jim Patterson banged in a goal eight minutes from time .sx Three minutes later he nodded in another for the equaliser .sx Then McMillan and Martin pulled off a dramatic winner between them .sx What was the Montrose defence doing all this time ?sx The three goals followed the same pattern- crosses from the wings .sx First two were from corner kicks .sx All three might have been cleared .sx But if the home supporters became critical over the defence they should really lambast those forwards who were shot-shy against a strong Queens defence starring McTurk and Rugg .sx Take Frank Sandeman out of the attack- especially second half- and there would not have been a try from the lot of them .sx Queens had some excuse in that Patterson- delayed in arrival because of fog- was obviously not fully fit .sx He pottered about on the right wing for 85 minutes and did all the damage in that three-minute burst .sx Until then Phil Grieve scarcely had a save .sx Crowd- 2000 .sx FIGHTING FORFAR .sx FORFAR 2 BERWICK RAN .sx 2 .sx Half-time- 1-2 .sx BOBBY LEGGE , the ex-Buckie Thistle inside forward , made an impressive home debut for Forfar .sx In addition to clever leading-out work Bobby , though obviously short of a gallop , scored the goal that brought his side a point .sx Forfar were the more impressive side in the first half , when Ross put them ahead in five minutes .sx Their forward line cut the Berwick defence to ribbons , but could not get another goal , and gradually Rangers came more and more into the picture .sx McCulloch ( twice ) and Imrie both went close before the game took a dramatic turn in their favour .sx In an innocuous-looking attack Knox , on the goal-line , was adjudged to have handled .sx Right-half Smith banged home the penalty .sx He did the same three minutes later when McCulloch , tearing through , was downed by Berrie .sx To Forfar's credit , they tightened up sufficiently to come back fighting 20 minutes from the end .sx In an all-out attack Legge rammed home the equaliser .sx Berwick carried most danger in their left wing .sx Forfar's forward line , good in the first half , tapered off after the interval .sx Crowd- 1000 .sx Stranraer Dominate .sx STRANRAER 4 , BRECHIN CITY 0 .sx ( Half-time- 1-0 .sx ) .sx BRECHIN tried hard , but there was only one team in it .sx Stranraer dominated throughout , and only forward failings deprived them of at least another four goals .sx What little football there was , Stranraer played it .sx