Match ends, Ross County 1, St. Mirren 2.
Ross County 1-2 St Mirren
By Martin Dowden
BBC Scotland
- From the section Football
- Martin Woods opens scoring with penalty
- Stephen Mallan equalises before half-time
- Mark Brown sent off late on
- Steven Thompson scores winning penalty
- Ross County three points clear of Motherwell
Steven Thompson's last-minute penalty earned relegated St Mirren a win that throws open the race to avoid the play-offs.
County went ahead when Liam Boyce was tripped in the box and Martin Woods scored from the penalty spot.
Stephen Mallan fired Saints level with a deflected shot from distance.
And Mark Brown was sent off for fouling Lewis Morgan before Thompson scored low into the corner. It leaves County three points ahead of Motherwell, in 11th.
It was a result few observers would have predicted but St Mirren deserve real credit for a resilient display following confirmation of their relegation on Friday night, when Motherwell beat Kilmarnock.
Boyce went close after making something of deliveries from Marcus Fraser, but failed to hit the target, and Woods was first to test Mark Ridgers in goal after a free-kick.
County's Tony Dingwall tested the keeper from distance before the breakthrough arrived. A swift turn in the box by Liam Boyce brought a foul by Sean Kelly.
And Woods superbly fired the ball high into the top corner from the penalty spot.
A minute later County should have gone further ahead. Boyce drilled a ball across the six-yard box, Craig Curran connected strongly but Jason Naismith produced a wonderful sliding challenge to divert the danger.
Boyce failed to hit the target when he really should have, and what followed shocked the entire stadium and turned this game into an intriguing contest.
With the ball at his feet in a central area, Mallon struck a fierce shot that deflected off the stooping Scott Boyd and looped away from Brown into the corner of the goal.
Ross County seemed reinvigorated after half-time and created chance after chance as they tried to move closer to retaining their Premiership safety.
Dingwall fired narrowly wide then Jackson Irvine's header connected with a defender, but appeals for a penalty were swiftly rebuffed by referee Steven Maclean.
Irvine became increasingly threatening from set pieces in particular, the midfielder narrowly sending two headers over the bar.
Woods, Dingwall and Michael Gardyne threatened more and it seemed inevitable that County would be rewarded.
The game ended in a dramatic way. Substitute Morgan outpaced Marcus Fraser and as he broke into the box he was caught by goalkeeper Brown, who was red-carded.
County had already used their three substitutes and one of those, striker Darvydas Sernas, put on the keeper's gloves as Thompson expertly rolled the ball into the corner from the penalty spot.
It leaves the Dingwall side perilously close to a play-off with two vitally important games to follow.
Line-ups
Ross County
- 21BrownBooked at 90mins
- 44FraserBooked at 80mins
- 5Boyd
- 43Quinn
- 12Reckord
- 30DingwallSubstituted forDe Vitaat 80'minutes
- 26Woods
- 36IrvineBooked at 82mins
- 40Gardyne
- 16BoyceSubstituted forSernasat 81'minutes
- 11CurranSubstituted forCardleat 84'minutes
Substitutes
- 1Reguero
- 3Meite
- 4Quinn
- 7Cardle
- 10Kiss
- 20Sernas
- 24De Vita
St Mirren
- 12Ridgers
- 2Naismith
- 30Baird
- 3Kelly
- 22Tesselaar
- 17Dayton
- 31MallanSubstituted forCuddihyat 72'minutes
- 14ReillyBooked at 20mins
- 11WyldeSubstituted forMorganat 80'minutes
- 8GowSubstituted forSadlierat 83'minutes
- 9Thompson
Substitutes
- 10Sadlier
- 15Arquin
- 19Brown
- 28Kello
- 34Morgan
- 35Cuddihy
- 52Genev
- Referee:
- Steven McLean
- Attendance:
- 3,098
Match Stats
Home TeamRoss CountyAway TeamSt Mirren
- Possession
- Home57%
- Away43%
- Shots
- Home18
- Away7
- Shots on Target
- Home5
- Away2
- Corners
- Home6
- Away5
- Fouls
- Home9
- Away11
Live Text
Full Time
Second Half ends, Ross County 1, St. Mirren 2.
Goal!
Goal! Ross County 1, St. Mirren 2. Steven Thompson (St. Mirren) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
Dismissal
Mark Brown (Ross County) is shown the red card for a bad foul.
Penalty St. Mirren. Lewis Morgan draws a foul in the penalty area.
Penalty conceded by Mark Brown (Ross County) after a foul in the penalty area.
Paul Quinn (Ross County) hits the bar with a header from the centre of the box following a set piece situation.
Joe Cardle (Ross County) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Jeroen Tesselaar (St. Mirren).
Scott Boyd (Ross County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Steven Thompson (St. Mirren).
Substitution
Substitution, Ross County. Joe Cardle replaces Craig Curran.
Foul by Paul Quinn (Ross County).
Steven Thompson (St. Mirren) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution
Substitution, St. Mirren. Kieran Sadlier replaces Alan Gow.
Booking
Jackson Irvine (Ross County) is shown the yellow card.
Foul by Jackson Irvine (Ross County).
Barry Cuddihy (St. Mirren) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution
Substitution, Ross County. Darvydas Sernas replaces Liam Boyce.
Booking
Marcus Fraser (Ross County) is shown the yellow card.
Foul by Marcus Fraser (Ross County).
Lewis Morgan (St. Mirren) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution
Substitution, St. Mirren. Lewis Morgan replaces Gregg Wylde.
Substitution
Substitution, Ross County. Raffaele De Vita replaces Tony Dingwall.
Attempt missed. Alan Gow (St. Mirren) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
Corner, Ross County. Conceded by Mark Ridgers.
Attempt saved. Tony Dingwall (Ross County) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Attempt missed. James Dayton (St. Mirren) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right.
Attempt saved. Liam Boyce (Ross County) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Substitution
Substitution, St. Mirren. Barry Cuddihy replaces Stephen Mallan because of an injury.
Corner, Ross County. Conceded by Mark Ridgers.
Attempt saved. Liam Boyce (Ross County) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Attempt missed. Jackson Irvine (Ross County) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.
Attempt missed. Jackson Irvine (Ross County) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high following a set piece situation.
Tony Dingwall (Ross County) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Alan Gow (St. Mirren).
Corner, Ross County. Conceded by Jason Naismith.
Attempt blocked. Jackson Irvine (Ross County) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Craig Curran (Ross County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Jack Baird (St. Mirren).