Round-up: McDonald hits hat-trick but aims praise at Killen

Celtic's hat-trick hero Scott McDonald joined manager Gordon Strachan in praising his misfiring strike partner Chris Killen for his part in the 3-0 win over Motherwell yesterday.

McDonald said: "I thought Chris was tremendous. He didn't get all the plaudits but he was unlucky not to get a goal. It's not a case of him waiting for the first goal to come, he scored against Gretna."

While Killen drew a couple of good saves from Motherwell goalkeeper Graeme Smith, it was McDonald who opened the scoring just before half-time with a header and grabbed his second before the hour mark after being put through on goal by Lee Naylor and then, with three minutes remaining, he won and converted a penalty to add another match ball to his collection.

Aberdeen's disappointing week ended on a low as they followed up a 3-0 Uefa Cup defeat to Panathinaikos with a frustrating draw against Falkirk.

Aberdeen opened the scoring in first half injury-time through Scott Severin's confident penalty after Darren Barr handled a Zander Diamond cross, but Falkirk hit back thanks to a calm finish by Patrick Cregg in the 68th minute.

Hibernian's manager, John Collins, said his side got exactly what they deserved after their 1-0 home defeat against St Mirren.

Billy Mehmet was the match-winner for St Mirren after he capitalised on an early defensive mix-up involving the goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay and the captain Rob Jones.

"I'm afraid too many players were off the boil, not playing to their maximum," said Collins.