Ross County got us underway on a perfect night for Scottish football, but it was a cagey affair for most of the first half. Martin Boyle and Elie Youan were trying to get at the County fullbacks, but they were well dealt with in truth.

Ronan Hale had the first real chance of the game, q simple ball in behind wasn’t dealt with by the Hibs defence and Josef Bursik hesitated before finally punching it out for a throw. The Hibs keeper has been scrutinized since his move in the summer and this was less than convincing.

Junior Hoilett had a half-chance moments later, he was found in acres of space down the right-hand side, he drove into the box, but his effort was poor and went wide of the post, Laidlaw untroubled. Jordan Obita then had a strike from the edge of the area, he struck it low and hard, but Laidlaw was down comfortably to make the save.

The closest either side came to scoring came just on the eve of half-time. Noah Chilvers whipped in a wonderful free kick to find the head of Jordan White, but Bursik pulled off an incredible acrobatic stop to keep the game level going into the second half.

Hibs were the quicker of the two teams to settle in the second half, a couple of chances fell their way. Youan had the ball on the edge of the area, but his strike was well over the bar.

Hoilett and Youan then combined beautifully in the middle of the park to set the Frenchman driving into the County half, he got the ball to Kukharevych inside the area but his strike on the turn sailed over the bar.

County had been under the kosh for most of the second half, but it was them who carved out the best chance, just ten minutes from time. Eamon Brophy found the ball just outside the Hibs box. His effort had Bursik beat but it went just wide of the post.

It was a drab affair by most standards, the final minutes saw Hibs pushing for a win but despite having the majority of the ball they were struggling to create much for Laidlaw to deal with. Deep crosses into the box were very comfortable for the County centre backs to mop up.

In the final minutes, Hibs pushed for the winner, committing bodies forward but again County stood firm, and the game petered out into a dull draw.

Speaking to our reporter at full-time, David Gray said whilst his team defended well and pushed for the winning goal in the second half, he lamented his sides quality in the final third.

“It might’ve been the decision making, it might’ve been the composure at times, it felt like one of those nights where everything was more of an effort than it should’ve been. Think it comes from a wee bit of a lack of confidence from the situation we find ourselves in.”

He also stressed that with the position they find themselves in, that Hibs need to start picking up points.

“A point away from home is never a bad thing but we know we need more than that.”

Don Cowie was happy with how his team coped with the attacking threat posed by Hibs.

“Thought we were the better team first, half and Hibs maybe shaded the second half but Hibs have got really good individuals in that front area of the pitch and I thought we kept them relatively quiet.”

Ross County’s defence has steadily improved under Cowie since he took over the coaching mantle in February and this was another display that showed how well drilled his back line is.

“We made sure that was the foundation of the performance was to try and keep them quiet and for the majority I thought we did that really well. We could’ve been better ourselves at going forward but it’s a good point overall.”

The draw is enough to see Hibs life off the bottom of the table as Hearts lost to Kilmarnock. They face Dundee Utd at Easter Road on Sunday as they look to right the wrong following their dramatic loss last time out.

The Staggies will travel to St. Mirren on Saturday with both teams level on points, this shapes up to be a tight match. County’s away form has been poor this season though with the Staggies yet to pick up an away win this season.

Ross County: ROSS LAIDLAW, JAMES BROWN, AKIL WRIGHT, KACPER LOPATA, RYAN LEAK, AIDEN DENHOLM (60 Josh Nisbet), CONNOR RANDALL (89’ Victor Loturi), NOAH CHILVERS (73 Allardice), ELIJAH CAMPBELL, RONAN HALE (60 Eamon Brophy) JORDAN WHITE (60 Alex Samuel)

Unused Substitutes: Jack Hamilton (GK), Jack Grieves, Michee Efete, Josh Reid

Booked: Wright

Hibs. – JOSEF BURSIK, LEWIS MILLER, MARVIN EKPITETA, WARREN O’HORA, JORDAN OBITA, NECTARIOS TRIANTIS, JOE NEWELL (Kwon 72), MARTIN BOYLE (83 N.Cadden), JUNIOR HOILETT (McKirdy 72), ELIE YOUAN (Molotkinov 83), MYKOLA KUKHAREVYCH

Unused Substitutes: Jordan Smith (GK), Dylan Levitt, Jack Iredale, Josh Campbell, Rocky Bushiri

• Referee: Grant Irvine
• VAR: Nick Walsh
• Booked: Obita
• Attendance: 3468 (488) away fans