Ronan Hale’s late equaliser earns Staggies a draw with Hibs

It was a tale of two halves and two penalties in Dingwall as Ross County once again came from behind to snatch a draw with Hibs minutes away from victory.  Dylan Levitt’s strike had put Hibs ahead at the break after Jordan White had his penalty saved from Jordan Smith, but Ronan Hale stepped up in the 86th minute and he made no mistake from the spot. Both Don Cowie and David Gray made a host of changes to their sides after last weekend’s Scottish Cup. Zac Ashworth, George Robesten and Jonathan Tomkinson made their debut starts for County and Ross Laidlaw was a welcome return on the bench after his injury. For David Gray, he brought back both Cadden brothers into the starting XI and Nectar Triantis and Josh Campell came back into midfield. Dwight Gayle partnered with the in-form Martin Boyle up front. First 45′ The aftermath of Storm Eowyn was in full display as the playing surface in Dingwall had clearly felt the brunt of the weather. Probably explaining the lack of quality throughout the game, the first half an hour was an incredibly drab affair. Hibs dominated the early possession and Gayle will feel he could’ve done better with a volleyed chance sent well over Jordan Amissah’s goal. Noah Chilvers looked his energetic self in midfield and had an effort from the edge of the box but it was a tame effort that Smith held comfortably. The first moment of controversy came not long after that, a cross into the Hibs area was initially cleared but referee David Dickinson was sent to the VAR monitor by Matthew MacDermid who adjudged Nicky Cadden had handled it and the penalty was awarded. White stepped up to take, but he struck a tame effort to Smith’s left who got down in plenty of time to make the save. Hibs would make County pay minutes before the end of the first half. A corner wasn’t dealt with by the County defence and Triantis cushioned the ball down for Dylan Levitt who fired into the bottom corner to give Hibs the lead at the break. Second 45′  The minutes ticked by in the second half, neither team was really in control. Hibs had an effort through Martin Boyle 20 minutes from time but Amissah was more than equal to the Australian’s fierce strike. Boss Gray was forced into a change in midfield when goalscorer Levitt was forced off with injury. Gray opted to bring on Moriah-Welsh but the change resulted in Hibs beginning to sit deeper into their own half. Through the last 20 minutes, Hibs were becoming their own worst enemy. Failing to hold onto the ball, a series of misplaced passes found County constantly moving up the pitch. The feeling in the stadium was that the fans knew County were pushing hard for an equaliser. And then, in the 85th minute, the second moment of controversy came when Dickinson pointed to the spot for a second time with Kieran Phillips being taken out in the Hibs area. This time Ronan Hale stepped up and where White failed, Ronan prevailed as he emphatically smashed home the equaliser. With only minutes remaining, both teams tried to get the ball forward but both defences stayed strong and in the end, the points were shared. Team line-ups: Ross County: Amissah (GK); Brown (Smith 83′), Wright, Campbell, Tomkinson, Ashworth (Hale 70′), Nisbet (MacLeod 63′), Randall, Chilvers, Robesten, White (Phillips 63′) Hibs: Smith (GK); C.Cadden (Obita 64′), O’Hora, Bushiri, Iredale, N.Cadden, Triantis, Levitt (Moriah-Welsh 64′), Campbell, Boyle, Gayle (Bowie 72′)

Unlucky number 13 for Dons as St Mirren loss extends winless league run

Jimmy Thelin’s hapless winter continued as Aberdeen were soundly beaten by St Mirren at Pittodrie. In a frenetic opening to proceedings, the home side found themselves under the cosh just seven minutes in after Slobodan Rubezic made a calamitous error to head a simple ball back to Ross Doohan past the keeper and allow Toyosi Olusanya to run in and finish. The Montenegran’s nightmare outing continued as he was all too easily muscled off the ball by Olusanya who proceeded to cut the ball back to an unmarked Mikael Mandron with the Frenchman doubling their lead. Making his struggles known to the bench Rubezic was seen asking to be substituted with just before half-time played as Dorrington came on to make his first appearance since arriving on loan from Tottenham. Despite being the dominant side for large parts of the second half, Aberdeen contrived to concede a third as Mandron added another goal to his tally after racing onto Alex Gogic’s launched ball up the park. Defeat means the Dons have yet to record a league win since November, with another defeat to St Mirren marking the start of their slide down the table.   Line-ups: Aberdeen: Doohan, Jensen, Rubezic (Dorrington 40), Tobers, Devlin, Shinnie (c), Heltne Nilsen (Palaversa 46), Okkels (Morris 70), Clarkson (Nisbet 55), Keskinen, Gueye (Duk 70) Unused subs: Ambrose, Boyd, MacKenzie, Ritchie Booked: Keskinen, Duk St Mirren: Hemming, Gogic, Taylor, Fraser, Tanser, O’Hara (Kiltie 46), Boyd-Munce (Smyth 72), Phillips, Penman (Bwomoni 26), Olusanya (Mooney 81), Mandron (Oseni 81) Unused subs: John, Kenny, Scott, Urminsky Booked: Penman, Hemming, Bwomono, Tanser, Kiltie Goals: Olusanya (7), Mandron (36, 78) Referee: Chris Graham

MATCHDAY PREVIEW – Ross County v Hibs

Ross County are looking to put Scottish Cup disappointment behind them as they welcome the League’s in-form team, Hibernian to a blustery Dingwall this afternoon.  The Hosts The Staggies lost out to a dramatic 120th winner last weekend as Championship side Livingston dumped them out of the Scottish Cup. Prior to the 4-1 defeat to Celtic, Don Cowie’s side were quietly putting an impressive string of results together. A dramatic draw with Hearts whilst after going more than a year without an away win, County made it three on the bounce with wins at Kilmarnock, Aberdeen and Dundee. The issue has been in defence for Cowie, with the Staggies boasting the second-worst defence in the league, shipping 42 goals so far. Ross County currently sits in 10th place, just a point above Hearts in 11th whilst four behind 6th-place Hibs. The Visitors David Gray is hoping to continue a run that has seen them propel up the table. Whilst fans had relegation on their mind in November, a 3-3 draw with Aberdeen has kick-started their season and now those fans are dreaming of European football next term. They eased into the next round of the Scottish Cup with a comfortable 3-0 win against Clydebank last weekend. In their last eight league games, they’ve picked up seven wins, including the Edinburgh Derby at Tynecastle on Boxing Day as well as a thrilling 3-3 draw to Rangers. Hibs were struggling at both ends of the pitch at the early start of the season, but a switch to a back three and Jordan Smith replacing Josef Bursik in goals has made a real difference at the back. The form of Nicky Cadden and Martin Boyle has revitalised the Hibs attack, the Australian in particular has been scoring for fun as of late. Team News Ross County: Don Cowie is unable to play Nohan Kenneh against his parent club. Michee Efete, Ryan Leak, Alex Samuel, Ross Laidlaw, Eli Campbell and Will Nightingale are all sidelined. Dylan Smith has been recalled from his loan at Arbroath and could feature. Hibs: Nicky Cadden is set to return but will be playing with a protective mask after breaking his nose. Joe Newell, Elie Youan and Marvin Ekpiteta are all sidelined. Kieron Bowie should feature after making his return from injury last weekend. Previous meetings Ross County rued defensive errors as Hibs came from behind to win a 3-1 battle at Easter Road back in December, goals coming from Dwight Gayle, Elie Youan and Josh Campbell. These two last met in Dingwall back on a cold Wednesday night in October, which can only be described as the most drab fixture you’d ever have laid your eyes on. That game finished 0-0 with very little to separate the sides.