Ross County got back to winning ways with an enthralling 2-1 victory over Motherwell on a sleety Saturday in the Highlands.
A delayed kick-off threatened the game, but second-half goals from Ronan Hale and a spectacular Josh Nisbet strike gave County a 2-goal lead, with Moses Ebiye’s late header merely a consolation goal for Stuart Kettlewell’s men.
Motherwell started the stronger of the two sides, Marvin Kaleta was constantly causing problems for Ryan Leak. An early free-kick saw Lennon Miller have a strike just whistle past the County post as we approached the fifteen-minute mark.
County started to grow into the game. However, Noah Chilvers was everywhere and anywhere in the middle of the park, and he almost made it 1-0. His neat footwork on the edge of the area bought him a yard of space. He drove inside the Well area, but his strike stung the hands of Oxborough as he pushed it over the bar.
County took the lead just minutes into the second half, Chilvers in the action again. His neat flick inside the box found Ronan Hale, whose clever spin got him in front of goal. He struck it low past Oxborough to give him his first goal since his penalty against Celtic.
Motherwell tried to respond immediately. Laidlaw was doing well in commanding his box, and balls were constantly being thrown into the County area. Lennon Millers’ strike from range might’ve broken a seat in County stand as his effort sailed well over.
But County would then double their lead just moments after their first. Josh Nisbet picked the ball up on the edge of the area and struck it sweetly into the top corner. Oxborough dived and was fully stretched but couldn’t lay a finger on it as the County fans exploded behind the goal.
With five minutes remaining, Motherwell pulled a goal back to try and get themselves back in the game. A beautiful free kick from Miller found the head of substitute Zach Robinson, who headed the ball past Laidlaw. There was one of the longest VAR checks in recent memory, which involved both sets of players doing a warm-up, but the goal stood to give the Well fans a lifeline.
Motherwell kept pushing for an equaliser; ten minutes of additional time made the home fans groan, but Well never troubled Laidlaw again as the hosts held on to claim all three points.
Ross County: Laidlaw; Brown, Leak (Campbell), Wright, Randall (c), Hale (Samuel), Chilvers (Grieves), Harmon (Denholm), Lopata (Efete), Nisbet, White
Motherwell: Oxborrough; Seddon (Paton), Gordon, Balmer, Sparrow (Moses Ebiye), Halliday (Paton), Casey, Kaleta (Jair), Wilson, Miller (c), Stamatelopoulos (Robinson)
Attendance: 3410 (279 Away)