RESULTS & ROUND-UP

Manolo to the rescue for Saints

MANOLO GABBIADINI rescued Southampton from relegation and left Swansea’s hopes hanging by a thread.

The Italian striker pounced on a loose ball in the six-yard box for the only goal, meaning only a huge goal difference swing could see them go down now.

It confirmed West Brom’s relegation and means Swansea must beat Stoke on Sunday and hope other results go their way if they are to beat the drop.

Gabbiadini’s winner at the Liberty Stadium will be worth more than 10 times his £14.6million transfer fee if it keeps Saints in the Premier League.

And if Mark Hughes has had a more satisfying win as a boss, he was struggling to conceal his relish last night.

He said: “It was a big performance from us. It is not mathematically certain but tonight we have put ourselves in the position where we have a great chance to stay up.”

Gabbiadini’s goal, four minutes after his arrival from the bench, did not just relegate West Brom on the day their caretaker boss Darren Moore was named manager of the month.

It left Swansea needing to beat relegated Stoke, and hoping Huddersfield don’t pick up another point from their last two games.

Saints struck in 72 minutes when Oriol Romeu headed down Dusan Tadic’s corner, and although Charlie Austin’s volley was blocked by Lukasz Fabianski, Gabbiadini swept home the rebound. ABERDEEN ............ 1 HAMILTON ............ 1 PARTICK TH ......... 0 ROSS COUNTY ...... 0

Lowland League –

University 3. SWANSEA ............ 0 SOUTHAMPTON ..... 1 LES HERBIERS ..... 0 PSG ...................... 2

Banchory St Ternan 1, Montrose Roselea 2; Culter 1, Dyce 4; Hall Russell Utd 0, Dufftown 0; Maud 1, Newburgh Th 0; Stonehaven 1, Banks O’Dee 2.

North Region Super League – North Region First Division East –

Aberdeen University 2, Sunnybank 4; Newmachar Utd 0, Fraserburgh Utd 0.

North Region First Division West –

Islavale 2, Spey Valley Utd 0; Whitehills 2, Forres Th 3. (7.45 unless stated)

Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership –

Celtic v Kilmarnock, Hearts v Hibs.

Championship play-off Final 1st leg –

Alloa v Dumbarton. RANGERS .............. 1 ST JOHNSTONE .... 2

MOTHERWELL ....... 1

DUNDEE ................ 1 Selkirk 4, Edinburgh

League One play-off Final 1st leg –

Stenhousemuir v Peterhead.

Chelsea v Huddersfield, Leicester v Arsenal, Man City v Brighton (8.0), Spurs v Newcastle (8.0).

English Premier League –

MARTIN CANNING refuses to accept Hamilton are safe – and says he’ll relax when relegation is mathematically impossible.

Accies all but secured their top-flight status after Partick Thistle failed to get a result against Motherwell.

St Johnstone’s victory meant Canning’s men remained just three points ahead – although it would take a 13-goal swing on the final game to see Accies end up in the play-off.

Rangers striker Kenny Miller, pictured for the first time since his suspension by the Ibrox club, was in the Superseal Stadium crowd that saw David McMillan’s spot-kick and David Wotherspoon’s strike blast Saints 2-0 up in the second half.

Dougie Imrie scored late on but in the end the result from Firhill mattered most.

Canning said: “I’d look pretty stupid on Saturday if I’m sitting in front of you guys tonight saying we’re safe and we BY DAVID WREN are not. I know we should be safe but stranger things have happened in football. “I’d like to think we’re almost there but mathematically it’s still important for us to approach Saturday properly and make sure we’re ready to take something from the game.” Canning brought Scott McMann and David Templeton into the starting line-up while Ryan Fulton replaced the injured Gary Woods in goals. Saints made two changes after their win over Well, with McMillan and Liam Gordon replacing