A St Mirren side hoping to build from their fine result midweek against St Johnstone and a Ross County side who haven’t won away from home this season resulted in a game to forget for both teams.

St Mirren dominated the ball in the early stages of the first half with Elvis Bwomono and Scott Tanser looking to create down the flanks, testing the County full backs who stood firm. Clear cut chances were limited for both sides but Ross County keeper Ross Laidlaw claimed the moment of the half. The home side were awarded a penalty after a lengthy VAR check on a shirt tug in the box. Eli Campbell was eventually booked for the foul on Marcus Fraser but Laidlaw used his size and saved Greg Kiltie’s penalty with his trailing legs.

The energetic midfielder will be disappointed with his effort. Kiltie continued to link up well on the left hand side with Tanser and both put multiple crosses into the box that the onrushing pairing of James Scott and Toyosi Olusanya couldn’t get on the end of. Jordan White was a nuisance up front for the visitors and the battle between the striker and Alex Gogic was one the neutral would find a classic. A physical battle that was ongoing for the 90 minutes made for entertaining viewing. White made use of bursting runs beyond the St Mirren back line by youngster Jack Grieves but this was of no trouble to Ellery Balcombe in the St Mirren goal. Toyosi Olusanya hitting the crossbar was the closest either side came to going in front but neither could find the breakthrough before half time.

Half Time: St Mirren 0-0 Ross County

Both managers decided to make attacking changes at half time with Jonah Ayunga and Conor McMenamin coming on for the hosts and Ronan Hale and Aidan Denholm being introduced by the visitors. The game came to life in the 2nd  half with both teams creating chances to put themselves ahead. Not long after the whistle blew, St Mirren broke through McMenamin and he cut inside before clipping a cross into the box which was met by the head Olusanya who forced a fine save from Ross Laidlaw. McMenamin, returning from a long term injury, was a constant threat down the right hand side for the Saints and was a bright spark in a rather dull encounter.

Up the other end the Dingwall side had chances of their own, a corner from Campbell evaded everybody and almost caught Balcombe out but the ball was eventually cleared. Richard Taylor recovered well from his error and provided a vital block after a close range effort from the visitors. Hale, the half time substitute, showed his boss Don Cowie exactly why he shouldn’t be left out of the starting 11. The 26 year old linked up well with Jordan White and created all sorts of problems for the St Mirren defence. Mikael Mandron had the chance to clinch the game right at the death but the substitute blasted his shot over the bar and the game ended goalless.

Overall, the visitors will be the happier of the two sides but St Mirren will be disappointed to not have taken more from the game.

Standout Players:
Ross County skipper Connor Randall dictated the middle of the pitch for the away side and controlled things especially in the 2nd half. The experienced midfielder looked composed in possession and put in a power of work off the ball to nullify the threat of the St Mirren midfield.

Ross Laidlaw, ever present in the Ross County team showed exactly why he has been their number one since signing in 2019. The towering goalkeeper was alert to anything that came his way and commanded his area well. The lightning quick reaction save from the head of Olusanya and denying Kiltie from the penalty spot topped off a fine performance by the stopper.

Teams:

St Mirren: Balcombe (GK), Fraser, Gogic, Taylor, Tanser, Bwomono (McMenamin, 46′), O’Hara (C), Phillips (Boyd-Munce, 77′), Kiltie (Idowu, 59′), Olusanya (Mandron, 59′), Scott (Ayunga, 46′)

Ross County: Laidlaw, Campbell, Lopata, Wright, Reid (Efete, 75′), Nisbet, Randall (Allardice, 75′), Brown, Chilvers (Hale, 46′), Grieves (Denholm, 46′), White

Attendance: 6142

Referee: Don Robertson